XMen: Evolution, Hellfire
by Epsilon Indi
Summary: Sequel to X-Men Evolution Arrival. Chapter 16: Separated. Distraught. Unable to regroup. The X-Men are in a bind- and with duplicates of themselves running around the only rule is trust no-one. I don't own X-Men
1. Chapter 1: Act 2

The mansion on Greymalkin Lane, Manhattan, stood imposingly on the hill on the outskirts of town. Even way out there the buildings were rarely less than two stories. As it was, the countryside that surrounded the Hellfire Club's chosen domain was covered with agents of said establishment. On the rooftop of one of the taller buildings, stood a young man of maybe 18. He was holding a pair of binoculars to his eyes, peering at the heavily guarded mansion. "Greymalkin lane." He muttered. "I didn't know they had a Greymalkin Lane in New York… Kinda odd, innit?" He adjusted the sights of the binoculars and sat back with a small sigh. "And damn, this place is huuuuge. And I thought Bayville was a big city." He chuckled to himself. The comm clip in his ear crackled. "It's probably the same street, John, just the other end." John cocked his head to one side. "Pfa. All the way out here in Manhattan? Bull crap." The voice that came back sounded irritated. "Shut up, John." John shrugged. "Well, as to the mansion, it's so well guarded I doubt even Kurt could get in in the dead of night with a black suit on and a cloaking field." A german accent crackled over the comm now. "You doubt zhe fuzzy man? Besides, vhere could ve get a cloaking field? Zhat's ridiculous." John chuckled. "Ya never know, Kurt." He walked to the roof entrance and looked inside, checking to make sure it was clear. He jogged all the way downstairs. They still had a lot of work ahead of them.

** X-MEN: EVOLUTION**

** HELLFIRE**

**(A/N: **Here we are, at the start of another story. Hope y'all are as excited as I am!)

Kurt yawned widely, stretching his tridactyl hands over his head and curling his tail into a tight ball. Kitty was asleep next to him, her head lightly on his chest. They had been staying in an old mansion that nobody had been using, in the middle of the city. It was a bit run-down, but between Forge, Logan, John, and the others, it had become habitable. Kitty blinked to awakeness and smiled blearily up at her blue fuzzy boyfriend. "Hey handsome." Kurt gave her a fanged grin. "How vhas your sleep?" She stretched backwards, pressing her chest closer to him. Kurt's cheeks turned a deeper shade of blue. "Nnnnot bad… I'm exhausted though…" Kurt coughed a bit. "Vhell um… I need to take a shower, so if you vould…?" Kitty kissed his cheek. "See ya downstairs for breakfast, mkay fuzzy?"

* * *

John heaved the timber aside and leaned back against the wall with a heavy sigh. He had been clearing out the basement for the past three days. He wiped his forehead with his arm, then wiped his grey skin on his shirt. He cast a critical glance around the room with one iridescent eye, like an abalone shell. He was almost done clearing out the basement, just a few more timbers to clear. The tread of light feet made their way downstairs, and John, with his enhanced senses, was able to tell that it was his girlfriend, Laura. She came into his sight and smiled at him. "Hey there shellhead. How're ya holdin' up?" John gave her a wry smile. "Not too bad, how 'bout you, Laur?" She crossed the room to him and put her arms around his neck, leaning up and kissing him lightly on the lips. He returned her kiss, putting his arms around her waist. She pulled back a bit. "How's your head?" She asked, putting a hand lightly on the curved metal plate that covered one side of his head, where he had been wounded by a sentinel prototype. John was prone to severe seisures and migraines, partially because of a medical condition he had been born with, partially due to the gaping hole in his head. Currently though, he felt peachy-keen. "I'm fine." He said, putting his forehead to hers. She closed her eyes. "Things are going really smoothly. Logan and Scott are almost done with planning the attack and everything. I have a good feeling about this… but also…" She bit her lip and looked sideways. John frowned, knowing Laura's body language fairly well. "What's up?" She looked down and shook her head. "It's nothing." John put his hand under her chin and lifted her head up so she was looking him in the eye. "I know you better than that. Laur, what's up?" She smiled apologetically. "I have the horrible feeling that one of us won't be coming back."

* * *

Rahne leapt over a dumptser as she made her way towards the 'mansion'. Gambit ran next to her. "Hey, _cherrie, _how you been doin' eh? It's been mighty wild lately an' I know the otha' new mutants are tryin' t' adjust to de change." Rahne smiled a bit. "T'has been going well, Gambit. John's almost finish'd clearing out th' basement." Gambit nodded. "Hey, you seen Rogue anywhere? I need to find de lass." Rahne blinked. "I think she's in th' kitch'n." Gambit saluted her. "Thanks, Rahne." He ran ahead of her. Gambit was going to move to San Francisco to help defend Magneto's institute. He probably wanted to find Rogue to apologize. The wolf in her grinned. '_red-eyes goes off to find his mate.'_ Rahne agreed, for once, with her wolf-half. Gambit and Rogue were meant for each other. She bounded into the house and up to her room for a well- needed nap.

* * *

There was a loud snap as the last timber broke and fell into the incinerator. Laura smiled as John wiped his forehead. He'd taken off his shirt to finish clearing the timbers. Laura had to admit. He was… well hot. Most of the X-Boys were, with the ceaseless training. Laura smiled, walking over to him and putting her hands on his back. He was warm, sweaty. John looked over his shoulder. "Hiya." He turned to face her and kissed her lightly. She giggled, putting her hands on his chest. "Whoa there big guy, take a shower first." John chuckled. "I'm not THAT sweaty am I?" She wiped a finger down his chest and delighted as he shivered. She flicked the sweat off her finger at him and raised an eyebrow. He sighed. "Fine, I'll go take a shower." He winked… well she assumed he had winked… and walked past her. She smiled softly as he passed, then dissappeared up the stairs. After a while she went after him and plopped down onto the couch, flicking on the TV and turning it to the news. She sighed. It was going to be a long couple of days. But she knew that the end payout would be worth it. CNN came on. The newscaster was mid-sentence. "-and there seems to be no end in sight for the Brotherhood's rampage across the country cannot be stopped." Laura frowned. "SCOTT?!"

* * *

(It's back! And better than ever! Enjoy and review!)


	2. Chapter 2: Fight

(A/N: Hey everyone! Here's Chapter Two of Hellfire, the sequel to Arrival. Scott finally gets his chance to get his revenge on the brotherhood. Enjoy!)

* * *

John ran downstairs, still toweling off his neck. "What happened?" He asked, standing next to their red-spectacled leader. Scott's glasses were smoking. "The brotherhood. They're attacking the mall." John blinked. The brotherhood, huh? "So why aren't we out tearing them new ones?" Logan growled. "Because, shellhead, if we went there, who would get put on TV?" John frowned. "Us? So what?" Rogue put a gloved hand on his shoulder. "John, if we went thar we'd get seen, and if we get seen 'n thah hellfahre club'll know we lived." John blinked. "Ah. Got it. So get Forge to hotwire a spike to the TV cameras. Like Peirce did." Laura came and stood next to him, lacing her fingers into his. "Actually that would work." She said, musing over it. Scott merely gave the TV a death glare. "Do it." He said. Jean frowned at him worriedly from the couch. "Scott, aren't you being a bit hasty?" She asked. Scott growled. "The brotherhood's had it coming for a long time, now I've got the chance to give it to them and you think I'm being hasty!?" His emotions must have really have been flaring, because Jean flinched. John stepped forward. "Jean, I know you're nervous." She raised an eyebrow at him, as if wondering what he was doing. "This may be our last chance to actually catch these goons." He looked at Scott out of the corner of his eye. "Before they got the drop on us. Before they had a plan. This time we're the only ones THEY won't be expecting. This is the perfect opportunity." Scott shot him a grateful look. Logan nodded a bit. "Shellhead's right yaknow, Jean." Jean sighed, and John didn't have to be a telepath to know she still thought it was a bad idea. "All right… I'll call forge.

* * *

Kurt teleported Kitty and himself out of the way of the X-Van hurtling towards them. Things weren't going well, to say the least. It was just him, Kitty, Scott, John and Jean. The others had stayed back to protect the mansion. _Not such a good thing._ They were getting their asses beat. The Brotherhood had changed as much as the X-Men had. Pietro was wearing a green jumpsuit with a silver lightning bolt running across it. He'd also grown taller and faster, and was running circles around Scott. The Toad had turned green,and had grown out his hair. His froglike appendages had acquired webbing, and his back feet could no longer fit into shoes. The Blob had grown twice as big and was also wearing a jumpsuit, though it was black and had no sleeves or pants. They had recruited two new members, as well. A silver-haired man with black sunglasses and all-black clothes and a trenchcoat who called himself Mastermind… Kurt figured he was probably from the Matrix… and a girl with light blue skin and hair, as well as a darker blue oval over one eye who called herself Domino. Mastermind and Jean were having a psychic throwdown of epic preportions, and John was busy trying to get close to Domino. Kurt set Kitty down in front of Blob. "You got zhe living food incinerator?" He asked jokingly. She kissed his cheek. "Go ahead, I'll take care of him." The Blob snarled down at Kitty. "Whaddaya gonna do princess? Throw rocks at me? I'm the immoveable BLOB!" He roared and sprinted at her. Kitty phased him halfway into the ground. He looked down at the ground, then back up at kitty. She stuck out her tongue at him. Kurt laughed, then was tackled by a slimy green frog. Kurt nearly wretched. "Get off of me, you reek like a pig!" He kicked Toad over his head. "I zhought you were reformed!" Kurt growled in disgust. Toad looked sorrowful. "They dragged me back, man…They just wanted me for one last heist." Kurt felt a pang of sympathy for the Toad. "Vhell mein shtinken krote… (My stinky toad) You'll have plenty of time to reflect on your mistake behind bars. You see, here's how zis vill go down. First, Scott's going to smash Pietro's face in. Zhen, Jean vill stop Mastermind, and John vill stop Domino. Zhen I vill hit you in zhe face vizh a pipe." Toad growled and leapt at him. Kurt tackled him backwards with a snarl. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Scott send Pietro skidding away from him with an optic blast. He heard Mastermind cry out in pain, and Domino sailed past him. Toad kicked away from Kurt and surveyed his fallen comrades. "Oh man, I'm gettin' outta here, man!" He turned and began hopping away. Kurt 'bamfed' in front of him, nonchalantly bouncing a pipe in his hands. They exchanged a moment of eye contact. A small smile curled at Kurt's lips. "Yep." There was a loud 'clang!' and the Toad went down.

* * *

Scott smirked. This felt good. Finally they'd beaten the brotherhood. "Good work team, let's get goin' for-" An earthquake exploded into life, tossing the X-Men around like ragdolls. Lance stepped into the light. A wispy moustache and beard had begun to grow. His voice had gotten lower. "You stupid punks never learn, do ya?" He held out his hands and grinned, staying completely conscious as the earth rattled. _God damn it, NO! We were so CLOSE! _Scott saw Pietro getting to his feet with a sneer. Scott was flat on his ass in seconds. Kurt and Kitty were now fighting for their lives against Mastermind and Domino, while the Toad knocked Jean over every time she got up. John was being pummeled by Blob, and whenever any of them attempted to help the other Lance caused an earthquake. Within minutes, the X-Men were left dazed on the pavement, struggling to help each other up in the wake of this, the most disasterous loss they had had against the Brotherhood. John was trying to get to his feet but kept falling back. Kurt's tail had been tied in a knot, and he and Kitty were busy with the arduous and extremely painful task of untying it. "God… DAMN it!" He roared to the sky. Jean walked up behind him and put her hand on his shoulder, leaning her head on his back. "It's ok, Scott. They… just had a plan. It's ok." Scott was trembling with rage. "They had a plan last time, too, remember? And the time before that! AAAGH!" He fired an optic blast at the sky. John stumbled over, still rubbing his head. "Don't sweat it Scott, we'll get him next time." Scott didn't know why, but suddenly he knew who he would be taking his anger out on. "Is that all this is to you?" He snarled angrily. John blinked, taken aback. "'Scuse me?" "Is this all just a little game, where we can go 'oh well, we'll win next time!' Is that how you see this, you stupid grey-skinned half-wit!?" John frowned. "You really think I would even have come with you if I thought this was a game?!" John snarled. "At least I don't have a rod up my-" Jean intervened. "Ok, you know what? Stop. This is pointless." Scott stepped in front of her. "No, Jean, I want to see what this little asshole has to say."

John's blood was boiling now. "Oh I'M an asshole?! Who stood up for you on this mission in the first place?"

"And who asked for you help!?" Scott was shouting now. John shouted back. "FINE! 'Note to self: Let Scott make a complete DOUSCHE of himself WITHOUT ANYONE'S HELP! Seems to be all you're good at nowadays, seeing as we're getting routinely WHUPPED under your 'leadership'."

"At least I can see who I'm following, you one-eyed freak!"

"Says the guy who wears ruby glasses! Maybe that's it, you see red even when you're not pissed!"

"At least I didn't grow up on the streets!"

"At least I can do something other than fire panzy little beams outta my eyes!"

"At least I didn't get half my head blown off!"

"Yeah? Well you might as well have. I don't see what the professor sees in you you pampered, prissy little bitch!" John realized he'd gone to far. He frowned apologetically as Scott stood in stunned silence, like the others. "Whoa, hey, I didn't mean-" Scott took a step forwards and punched John hard, across the face. They both let out a cry of pain. Scott had punched John in the left eye, where the plate covered his face. Kitty started to step forwards. "Hey now-" John, however, punched Scott in the nose, sending his head rocking back. He also put a little extra 'oomf' into it, and Scott tripped onto his ass cradling a bloody nose. "You little son of a bitch!" He growled. "Figures, you hit like a girl scout you take one like a girl scout. I'll be tipping the van upright if anyone needs me." He turned to go. A roar filled his ears and he was hit in the back with the force of a car. Red light swirled around him and he was propelled into the van. His head was swimming. "How'd that feel? Still think they're panzy beams, you little bastard?" A torrent of rage swept through him. How dare he? John roared in fury, sprinting at Scott, armor wrapping around him. Scott snarled and put a hand to his visor. Jean screamed. "ENOUGH!" A psychic wave reverberated through the streets. John tripped and fell, armor recoiling. Scott's head snapped sideways. Everyone picked themselves up, looking worriedly between John and Scott. Jean frowned at John. "Johnathan! How could you even think about armoring up to attack Scott!" She turned to Scott. Something unspoken passed between them. "Let's get in the X-Van and go home." She said in a soothing tone. John felt his anger die down, replaced with cold resentment. "Come on, John, vhat are you vaiting for?" Kurt frowned, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. John had other plans, however. "That's ok, I think I'll walk." He turned and walked to the van, armored up and tipped it on it's wheels, then grabbed his coat and started walking back the way they had came. He was dimly aware of the X-Van when it roared past and a baleful blue face in the window, and then he was left as he had entered the family.

Alone.

* * *

(A/N: Chapter two was longer than I'd figured I'd get out. Naruto will be with us to start off the next chapter, so see you then! Epsilon Indi out!)


	3. Chapter 3: Race

(A/N: Here's chapter three in ya mouth! Naruto, anything to add?

(Naruto): You're already on the sequel you speedy bastard? That's unbeleivable, 'ttebayo.

(E.I.): well I don't like to brag but…

(Naruto): Why the hell not!? Bragging is fun and it makes you feel good!!

(E.I.): Yeah… you're awful erm… modest, naruto. -realizes that ninjas might not take kindly to insults-

(Naruto): HEY! I CAN READ WHAT YOU'RE TYPING, 'TTEBAYO!!! YOU DIDN'T CAPITALIZE MY NAME YOU SON OF A BITCH!

(E.I.): Oh god start the story!!!

* * *

John kicked a can into the gutter, emotions rattling around inside him like ping pong balls in a tin wind tunnel. At first he had been angry. Then he'd gotten resentful. Finally, though, he settled down enough to realize that he probably overreacted a bit. _A bit… yeah, just a teensy bit. _He walked another two blocks or so before he felt Jean's prescence brush his mind, asking for entrance. John let her in, and he felt a cold rush, the same one that always came of someone being in your mind. _"John, are you ok?"_ her voice said in his mind. "_Yeah, I've settled down. How 'bout Scott? How's he doin'?" _A moment of silence followed. _"He's still a bit… iffy."_ John chuckled out loud. "_That bad, huh?"_ He saw the lights of the mansion ahead, still about a half mile off. The buildings had began to grow smaller. "_Look, Jean, tell him I'm sorry, and I'm almost home."_ He felt her withdraw from his mind like his brain was leaking out of his head. He gave a light shiver and scratched his cheek absent mindedly. He knocked on the front door of the mansion. The door swung open and John stepped inside to say hello, to be met with a stinging slap that sent his head rocking back. "What the FUCK were you thinking!?" John hadn't realized Laura might be angry. He rubbed his cheek. "Ow." "Ow? I'll show you 'ow'! What the fuck John!? The Hellfire club is everywhere! They could have seen you, and what THEN smarty-pants? Huh? What the fuck would you have done then!?" She struggled to contain her rage and failed. She kneed John between the legs, hard, then turned and stormed out of the room. John made a strangled noise and fell forwards, curling into a ball. "Ow…"

* * *

Kurt stayed with John untill he had recovered from his brutal assault well enough to stand. He helped his gray-skinned friend to his feet. "Kurt?"

"Da?"

"Make sure you never date a girl with steel kneecaps."

"Yes, Mein freund." Kitty and Jean were still giggling uncontrollably. Kurt could practically see the stars floating around his head. "Let's go get you some ice, ja?" John nodded weakly and Kurt led him out of the room. He gave John a pack of ice, then walked back to Kitty. She was still trying to restrain her giggles. Kurt gave a false frown. "Zhat's painful you know, not somezhing to laugh at… when it happens to you, that is." She only started giggling harder at this, and she leaned against his chest for support as she laughed. He gave har a fanged grin and put his arms around her lightly, trying to restrain his own laughter. Soon enough however they were both rolling around laughing raucously. A loud bang sounded from upstairs promptly followed by a "SHUT UP!" Kitty and Kurt looked at each other. Scott was still in a bad mood, it seemed. They laughed quietly together for a while after that.

* * *

As three hours passed it was time to run training. In lou of the danger room sessions they had grown used to they leapt from rooftop to rooftop, sparring back and forth against whoever was chosen as partner to another. They would racefrom rooftop to rooftop in a circle around the city. To choose their partners they would put all their names in a hat, and whoever someone chose would race them. The person who performed best won 'immunity' and didn't need to run the race the next training session. The latest winner was Kurt. He stood next to the professor and Logan as Laura stepped up to the hat. She dug around for a while, then pulled out a piece of paper. She looked at it then smirked. "John." John rolled his eyes. As Laura walked by she slammed John's shoulder with her own. He jerked backwards and fell. A few of the others snickered. John's cheeks grew darker grey, which only happened when he blushed. Kurt felt sorry for him. He stood and grumbled something, then walked outside. Kurt smiled at Kitty as she stepped up. "Umm, oh hey! Amara!" They squealed happily and jumped up and down in a circle. After, Scott stepped up and reached into the hat. He pulled out Sam. Rahne pulled Iceman, and Roberto pulled Storm. Beast and Logan chose to go against each other of their own free will. Kurt knew that Kitty and Amara would be first, so he moved up to the roof. Kitty smiled, kissing him lightly. "Wish me luck." "As if I hadn't already." She giggled and stepped into the starting circle.

* * *

Kitty leapt from one roof to the next. She phazed through a column of flame and stepped into the winners circle. She giggled. "I win. Haha." Amara landed next to her with a pouty look on her face. "Dammit, you're just better cos you're more experienced." Kitty stuck her tongue out at Amara, and they both dissolved into a fit of giggles. Beast and Logan followed Kitty and Amara. Logan almost won but Beast wrapped a clothesline around his ankle and he won. A very giggly Jean helped Logan down, before she went against Jamie, in one of his test-runs. Jean let him win. After that, Rahne and Iceman squared off. It was a narrow race, but Iceman pulled ahead by a hair when he caught Rahne's shoulder with an ice beam, stopping her long enough to pull ahead. Storm beat Roberto within the first few minutes. Scott and Cannonball raced each other second to last. Cannonball slammed into Scott and propelled him across the finish line, making Scott the winner (Aagh! That wasn't fair!). The final race was left to Laura and John… the only race Kitty had been dreading. She knew Laura was still mad at John. She just didn't know how far Laura was prepared to take this. She watched with some trepidation as they both stretched. This was going to be painful.

* * *

John felt his nerves tighten. Laura was quite obviously still pissed at him, though why he didn't know. He stepped into the circle. Laura kept her gaze straight ahead, a determined and angry look on her face. John blinked. "Good luck?" He held out his hand. Several seconds passed. Nothing happened. "Ooookay." He turned back to the course. He blinked. Logan put his arm up. "On yer marks…" John crouched slightly. "Get ready…" He flexed his calf a bit. "Go!" He dropped his arm. They both sprinted towards the edge of the building. John leapt onto the edge. Time slowed down. He propelled himself into the air as hard as he could, boosting his velocity as much as he could. He sailed over the next rooftop, clear onto the next. He landed, rolled, and kept running. He felt a thump through the roof as Laura landed behind him. John leapt over the next roof as well, and landed harder than he had meant to. He fell face first, and scrambled to his feet as Laura landed behind him. She launched a vicious roundhouse kick at him that he barely blocked. "Hey!" He caught her leg, and she twisted her leg in his grip and kicked him back with her other leg, landing on her hands. She sprang backwards from this position, swinging her legs sideways in an almost breakdance- style move she had probably learned from watching him train. John blocked the first kick and swept his leg into the next, forcing the joint to bent outwards. He twisted sideways and Laura spun into the air. He grabbed her arm and lifted her over his head in an awkward position, one of her legs trapped under his arm, and the other in his left hand. He had her upper arm in his right. "Will you please just CHILL OUT!?" He cried. She snarled, bringing her other arm around. Her fist connected with his left eye. The dull 'clang' echoed through his head. A burst of light flashed in front of his eye and he cried out in pain, dropping her. Disoriented, he was dimly aware of her pounding off down the roof. He couldn't tell up from down or left from right. When he regained his balance Laura was already two roofs ahead of him. A surge of anger roared through him. "That was a dirty trick." He growled, to no-one in particular. He sprinted full tilt at the edge of the roof. He launched himself with every ounce of his power and energy. He sailed over two roofs straight towards Laura, who was in the air over the second- to- last roof. He slammed into her hard, slamming her into the roof. The wind whooshed out of her lungs as they landed. John rolled to his feet, pain still lancing through his head. He staggered off to one side. He felt Laura getting to her feet slowly, breathing hard. He frowned, worried he might have hit her too hard. "Laura, are you ok?" He turned to her, and something hard slammed into his nose. His head snapped back, and he staggered back. Laura punched him again in the stomach, and as he doubled over brought her knee up to meet him. He rocked back, seconds away from falling. She went to roundhouse him again, but he was already falling. Her kick passed over his head, and he went down hard. He groaned, dizziness welling up in his stomach. His head was pounding horribly. He was aware of Laura's boots pounding away from him again… was she really going to leave him there after she had kicked him, purposefully, right in his weak spot? He felt his stomach lurch sickeningly. Then he felt a pair of hands on his shoulders. "Nngh…" He forced his head up and looked into a pair of worried brown eyes. "John… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" He cut her off. "Save it. I mean, for when my head's not throbbing." He smiled weakly. She smiled worriedly back at him. As she helped him up John had the unfortunate feeling this wasn't going to be easy.

(A/N: SORRY for the delay. I've been busy warding off ninja -ahem- and schoolwork and things like that. But, this chapter is also fairly long… so enjoy! Plus, my doc man isn't working. )


	4. Chapter 4: Christmas

(A/N: Ready for chapter four everyone? Well, here you go!)

Laura helped John to the finish line, greif twisting her stomach into knots. "John, I'm so, so, SO-" He put a finger to her lips. "I understand." He murmured dizzily. She winced inwardly. She shouldn't have taken her anger out on him. It wasn't right. Especially, she shouldn't have kicked him in the head. He stood up straighter, and took his arm off her shoulder. He stumbled a little and her hand instantly found his. John smiled at her. Laura knew he wasn't mad at her, but it still made her heart sore when she thought about going off on him like that. He laced his fingers with hers. Kurt and Kitty came up, Kurt with his arm around Kitty's shoulder. Laura knew that Kurt was one of John's best friends, but he and Laura had never really conversed at all. Now he was looking at her with near-anger for hurting his friend. Kitty smiled at her. "Hey Laur." Laura smiled faintly back at her. Kitty's gaze flickered to John. "He doin' ok?" She asked. John blinked a bit. "'M right here yaknow." Kurt smirked and Kitty giggled. "That's the point shellhead." John waved his arm dismissively. "Whatever."

* * *

Two months later things were pretty much the same. They were just taking time to train now. As the weather began to grow cold and snow began to fall, training missions grew shorter. The holidays rolled around, and a very embarrasing thanksgiving (Nightcrawler discovered he could teleport the articles of clothing on any given person, much to everyone else's dismay) bled into December, and the promise of Christmas. Snow blanketed the city, and New York fell into a haze that could only be described as Christmas fever. The X-men participated in this holiday with more gusto than any other, because to them it embodied everything the professor stood for. Equality was Christmas's main effect, even if it was just for a day.

* * *

And so it was that Johnathan, resident shellhead of Xavier's institute for gifted youngsters, found himself faced with a horribly difficult decision. "Oooh, crap." He groaned, sitting back on the couch in the main room. The guys were home alone while the girls all went shopping for presents, then the guys would all go shopping. It was the way everything worked. "I am SO screwed." Kurt chuckled. "And vhy vould zhat be, good shellhead?" John rubbed his temples. "I have no idea what to get Laura." He grumbled. Bobby laughed. "I can see his predicament. What do you get for a girl with steel claws and mercenary training?" Scott chuckled. "It doesn't matter what you get her, just as long as it doesn't make her angry." Everyone laughed at this. John calmed to a chuckle and rubbed his eye. "Maybe I'll get her a sweater. Or an itunes gift card." Bobby snorted. "If you don't want to get any for a month, that's exactly what you want to get her." Another chorus of laughs erupted. John pushed Bobby off the couch by his face. "Shut up, dude." John sighed a bit. "I wonder what the girls are doing.

* * *

Laura groaned. "I have no idea what to get John." She pulled at the sleeve of a sweatshirt on the rack. "I mean, what do you get a guy with half his head made out of metal?" Kitty giggled, as she was looking into a custom shirt designer. "You could get him a haircut. He looks like some cartoon character." Her, Jean, and Rogue began to giggle. Laura snickered a bit herself. "Yeah, I'm gonna have to get him to cut his hair." John's hair was way to spiky. Laura's eyes lit up. "Oh! I know!" She dashed off. Kitty looked after her, blinking confusedly. She turned to Jean. "So what are you getting for Scott?" She asked lightly. Jean smiled. "I'm helping the Professor make him a new visor. I think it'll look better than the old yellow one he used to use. Less clunky, more streamlined." Kitty nodded. "That's good, the old visor was like… seriously falling out of style." They giggled for a bit. "What are you getting Kurt?" Jean asked curiously. Kitty smiled brightly. "I'm gonna get him a shirt with the words 'The Amazing Nightcrawler' on them." Jean's eyes widened. "What Kitty, he's gonna love that!" She nodded. "Problem is, with this crappy- lame ass shirt making guy I'm like, worried that they won't get it done like, on the dot, yaknow?" Jean nodded a bit. "I heard the professor talking with Logan about giving us new outfits." Kitty frowned. "I kinda like this outfit." Jean nodded. "One other thing." Kitty blinked. "Yea?" "I'm thinking about cutting my hair short." Kitty's eyebrows raised. "Oh really? Like, how short?" Jean shrugged. "Don't know yet." Kitty looked up as Laura came up with a brand-new Ipod Nano. She grinned widely. "Perfect gift, right?" Kitty nodded, eyes wide. "Perfect! It's like, completely what he needs." She giggled. "You think he'll like it?" Kitty shook her head. "I KNOW he will."

* * *

After everyone had done their shopping and Christmas had arrived, the time to exchange presents arrived with it. Kurt eyed his present from Kitty curiously. "Vhas ist das, katzchen?" He asked, eyeing the pack with almost hungry curiosity. Kitty giggled. "Open it and find out, fuzzy." Kurt tore furiously at the wrapping. Everyone else had already unwrapped their presents. He pulled out a sweater with a black-and-red clad man with a tail and a dark, smiling face. In red letters below him said 'Das Erstaunliche Nachtcrawler!' Kurt's eyes lit up. "Mein Gott! Keety I lofe it!" He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. She giggled, half-trying to get out of his rib-crushing hug. "Kurt, like stop it! C'mon stop it!" She laughed as his tail snaked around and tickled her. "Vhas? I can't here you, katzchen!"

"Kurt! Stop! Really! Haha, stop!"

"Say it in German."

"What?"

"Say it in german!"

"Stoppen sie das!!"

"Vhaaas?"

"STOPPEN SIE DAS!!" She laughed. But something in the tone of her voice made Kurt's heart cold. A memory drifted to the front of his mind.

* * *

"_STOPPEN SIE DAS!! BITTE, BITTE!" Stop that! Please, please! He ran from the circus tent, out across the faireground. "Ich habe nichts getan! BITTE!" I have done nothing! PLEASE! A stone grazed his ear. He stumbled forwards onto all fours and moved faster. He could hear them all behind them. Screaming for his blood, his death. 'beendem sie den Damon!' Kill the Demon! They cried. Another stone hit the back of his head. He staggered, leapt into the road. A car screamed past, and he screamed again. A police car came from the other direction. A red face leered out of the headlights, laughing maniacally. He squeezed his eyes shut-_

Kurt opened his eyes and found himself in the X-Jet hangar. "Vhas vhar dieses gesicht?" He muttered. Something told him that dark times once again loomed on the horizon.

* * *

(A/N: Sorry for the wait!!! I am currently restricted from computer acess, so I might need to put the story on hiatus untill I'm back on. SORRY!!!!)


	5. Chapter 5: Darkness

(A/N: Aah, to return to the computer again. Well here's the next chapter!)

"_Vhas?" He glanced nervously around the clearing he was suddenly in. "Wo bin ich?" Where am I? He looked down and examined himself to make sure he was in one piece. After confirming he was all present, and uninjured, he frowned, standing up and looking around. "Wie tat I…?" How did I…?He frowned. The car had been mere inches from his face and then… he had opened his eyes and been in the forest. He closed his eyes and concentrated. A loud BAMF filled the clearing._

_

* * *

_

Kurt yawned, stretching his arms over his head. He'd been having flashbacks of the first time he'd teleported and it was starting to exhaust him. A light tap came at the door. "Um, Kurt? Like, it's time for breakfast, fuzzy." Kitty phased through the door, walked over to Kurt (Who was now sitting up) and plopped down on his lap. She herself looked like she had just woken up. She yawned and put her arms around his neck. Kurt smiled. "Good morning to you, katzchen." He thought she looked cute when she was tired, watching her blink the sleep from her eyes. She kissed him sleepily, which she returned, and smiled happily at him. "You're all warm… didja have another weird dream last night?" Kurt frowned a bit, letting his silence answer her question. "Oh, Kurt…" She frowned. "Are you ok?" Kurt nodded a bit. "Ja, but it's a leetle unnerving. Zhe circumstances under vhich I found out about mein powers veren't exactly zhe most friendly." Kitty made a frown face. "Aww, poor baby. Let's go get you some food and then you'll feel better." Kurt grinned widely. "Now I remember vhy I love you."

* * *

John tossed the weight aside and sat up with a heavy sigh. Ever since he had fought Donald Pierce and he'd gotten in his fight with Scott, he'd been training twice as hard as ever. His heart was pounding through his armor. He powered down and wiped some sweat from his forehead. He stood up and stretched. He HAD to get faster.

* * *

Something told him that Pierce was still out there… He wanted to be ready when that time came. He sprinted forwards, then focused his velocity forwards. As his speed suddenly increased and he jumped forwards, he noticed something. There was a tiny, millisecond- long flash of light that obscured his vision. He stopped, frowning slightly. _What the hell was that?_ He did it again. Sure enough, the same flash of light. Then he realized. "Of course!" The flash of light was a discharge of energy created by the increase of his velocity and gravity as it overcame the other forces of velocity and gravity at work against him. "Hmm…" He frowned, then pushed Velocity against him. Another flash of light so fast it might never have been there. But he was forced to take a step backwards. "Hmm…" He focused velocity in all directions. He gasped in pain, took a half step. The force of the velocity was crushing him. He HAD to make this work. He relieved the focus of velocity in front of him and felt a strange sensation. There was a slight _wshoo!_ Sound and the world became a blur as he zipped forwards. John's eyes widened and he slammed into a weight pole, sending a loud metal 'crack!' echoing through the room. His head snapped back and his legs, still moving forwards, shot out from under him. His head hit the ground with a 'thunk'. "Ooouuusha… that hurt." He rubbed his head. _But what had just happened?_ John groaned, sitting up. He was going to go see Beast.

* * *

As it was, John found Beast exactly where he thought he might: In the makeshift lab Hank had set up. "John my boy, what can I do for you?" I uh… was just wondering. Is it possible to transcend the speed of light?" He asked. Hank lowered his glasses and looked at John. What had the boy been getting in to? "Well, technically yes. When a chemical bond is broken, or when a force of gravity is overcome, the reaction and burst of energy DOES transcend the speed of light. But why do you want to know that?" John toed the ground nervously. "Were you experimenting with your powers, John?" He nodded a bit embarrasedly. Beast chuckled. John was a good kid, but he could be a bit silly sometimes. "John, they're your powers. You don't need to be ashamed of experimenting. So. What happened?" Beast made some tea (Which John refused politely) and sat down to listen to his story. After he was done, Beast took a long sip of his tea and sighed a bit. "John, it seems like you did transcend the speed of light for a moment, which is why you only moved across the gym. Still, that's an incredible feat." John gave a slight grin. "Like teleporting?"

"No, because teleporting involves moving through another dimension. You can still be hit and stopped when you do that."

"Hmm…" He frowned a bit. "So then… what? It's like a flash… step?" Beast nodded slightly. "Exactly." John blinked. "So what do I do now? I've got to practice it!" Beast looked him up and down. John was a strong kid, to be sure. But this would put an enormous strain on his body. "John, you must know how dangerous this is. Squeezing yourself through a point in space much smaller than yourself is… well, it's not a pleasant thing. It could cause serious health risks, or worse." John gave him a savage grin. "When has that ever stopped me?" He said. Hank shook his head with a slight smile himself. "Just be careful John. There are a lot of people here who would be horrified if they lost you." He looked at the ground, no doubt thinking of Linda. "I know." He turned, walking out of the lab with a slight smile.

* * *

Linda looked up as John walked in. It had been three days since he had told Linda about his 'idea'. She had called him stupid, idiotic, senseless, and brilliant. She smiled as he sat down next to her. She kissed him lightly on the lips. "Still working on that new… whatchacallit of yours, huh?" John chuckled. He pulled her onto his lap and gave her another light kiss. "Flashstep? Yeah, still trying to make it work." Linda relaxed into him. He was the only person she could fully relax around. If he wasn't there she was always checking over her shoulder. She giggled a little as her hands, which had been running through his hair, net the metal plate over his eye. "Head been hurting you lately?" She felt him shake his head. "A few headaches now and then but nothing serious." She smiled and nuzzled against his chest. "Good." Things were calm enough, untill that night. They would be sparring together for the first time in a while.

* * *

Kurt stretched and got ready to spar with John, his chosen partner. The others had all gone (John was usually picked last… which was odd) and it was just the two of them left. He was nervous. He'd seen John take apart a sentinel with his bare hands, and he had beaten the crap out of Donald Pierce about a year earlier. He was no easy opponent. They both stepped to the middle of the giant storm drain beneath the 'mansion' they were using as a sparring arena. The ceiling of the vaulted room stood high above them, and water ran down in streams from the stormy weather above them. The light of a lamppost and low LED lights for sewer workers were there only light, and kurt knew that he would at least have the advantage of sight. "All right ya little twerps… you both know the rules, so play fair." Logan's usual charming demeanor started off the battle. John rushed right at Kurt, then leapt sideways at the last minute. _Odd, _Kurt thought. _Why isn't he armoring up?_ He didn't have time to figure it out, though, because John launched a vicious strike at his shoulder. Kurt deftly blocked it, flipping back onto his hands and kicking John into the air. He leapt upwards, teleported over him, and kicked him into the ground. John landed on his feet, however, and as kurt landed, he growled. Hitting John was like punching through maple syrup. His powers made him difficult to hit. Kitty was calling encouragement to him from the sidelines. Kurt dodged a blinding kick from John, then staggered back. A wave of force washed over him. This was different than fighting anyone he'd ever fought before. "Ach!" He teleported away. John frowned, rushing towards him. He tossed out a boneshattering punch Kurt was a millisecond to slow to dodge. His head rocked back and he skidded backwards. "Ow!" He growled. "Zhat vasn't very nice." John smirked a bit. "It's a fight, it's not supposed to be nice." Kurt felt a sudden and violent surge of anger and hatred. His vision flashed with red and he rolled to his feet. "Good point." He teleported over John and landed on his shoulders, grabbing him with his dextrous feet. "I hope you von't zhink too badly of me for zhis zhen." He teleported John five times around the room in rapid succession. Then he ported to the ceiling and tossed john at the ground as hard as he could. There was a low 'boom' as he hit the ground that shook the drain. John got up with a groan. Without giving him time to shake off the dizziness that usually affected Kurt's teleportation passengers, he teleported in front of John and kicked him hard in the chest. The air whooshed out of John's chest and he was sent flying backwards. Kurt was stronger than he looked, and the anger boiling in his veins tripled that. He snarled low and angry as John got up again. "Kurt, what the hell is the matter with you?" The dazed boy grumbled. "Fighting isn't very nice, John." Kurt hissed. Kurt felt odd. Like he was becoming more powerful with the rage that flowed through him like electricity. _The light._ A voice whispered in his ear, sending echoes through his head. It was like no voice he'd ever heard before. It slithered through his mind, trailing whispered laughs and obscene lies. _Take out the light, you silly little idiot. If he can't see he can't fight. _Kurt smirked. He was going to have fun with this.

* * *

John frowned as an evil smirk crossed Kurt's face. _What was wrong with the guy?_ Kurt had been acting really weird for a long time. Shooting angry glares at people behind their backs, shooting dirty looks at people on the street, then acting like he had no memories of any of it. Kurt BAMFed and was gone from sight. There was a loud CRACk and then the tinkle of falling glass. Kurt was breaking the LED lights! John snarled, knowing how Kurt could dissappear in darkness, and sprinted for the beam of orange light coming down from the street above. The last light dissappeared, and he dove into the beam. Kurt's laughter came echoing from the darkness. No… not Kurt's laugh. This laugh was more sinister, filled with hate… almost, older. Like something deep underground was laughing at him. Kurt appeared at the edge of his vision, and then dissappeared again. His eyes shone out at John, sometimes yellow, and sometimes red. "Kurt, stop piddle-shitting around!" A fist launched out of the dark. John barely dodged it. "Piddle-shitting around, eh John? Vhy don't you step out of zhe light and say zhat to my FACE!" This time there was no dodging the vicious blow. John only had enough time to lessen the velocity a bit. It still hurt. He staggered to the edge of the light, half of his back becoming drenched in shadow. And then two hands grabbed his shoulders, and he was lost from sight.

* * *

(Heya folks! Well, here's chapter five of my fanfiction Hellfire. Hey, folks, I'm really sorry about the slow updates here compared to my normal speed… School is taking time and effort, of course XD. Anyways, next chapter will conclude this fight between John and Kurt, and it'll feature a certain wall crawling menace!)


	6. Chapter 6: Tangled Web

(A/N: Hi everyone! Workin' super hard to kick up the gears and get this chapter done!)

John was blind. That is to say, he couldn't see anything after Kurt had flipped out and pulled him into the darkness. "I've put up with your jack shit for too long, you half-witted idiot!" A fist caught his shoulder, and his shoulder jerked forwards, and another blow- he couldn't tell if it was his elbow or his knee- caught him in the stomach. "All of you! I take all the crap you spew at me, and vhat do I get? NICHT!" He doubled over, trying to get away from Kurt. "Vhere are you going, John? Don't you vant to _play_ vith me anymore?" A hand gripped his collar and yanked him backwards. John made a strangled choking noise and staggered back, then caught a hard fist in the face as his head rocked back. His hed was forced downwards, and his legs flipped into the air. He rolled over with a groan. "Kurt what the hell is wrong with you?" He pushed himself onto his hands and received a kick in the side. "No John, vhat zhe hell is right vizh me. I've never felt better." His voice was somewhere ahead of him and he saw the attack coming before Kurt could land the kick. His arm snapped out lightning fast and caught his shin. With the vicious snarl of a cornered animal he yanked Kurt to him and began to lash out. A loud BAMF split the air and John couldn't feel the ground. His head spun dizzyingly and he plummeted to the ground. They must have been nearly to the ceiling, because he fell along way and landed in a puddle with a loud crack, muffled by a splash as he landed in a puddle. Lightning flashed outside, illuminating Kurt for a moment. He was standing up straight, not hunched over like he usually was. His head was thrown back and his teeth were bared in a sneer of contempt. But what really disturbed John was what seemed to leer over his shoulder. A red face, complete with two curled horns and bright gold eyes and sharp teeth just like Kurts. John took a ragged inhale and rolled over. His chest was killing him. The lightning faded and Kurt was lost from sight.

* * *

Kitty frowned. As the lightning flashed, An image of John sprawled on the floor, Kurt leering over him burned into her eyes, the afterimage lingering in her eyes. Loud, sickening cracks, thuds, and the occasional 'ungh!' echoed through the sewer drain. Kitty flinched every time a sound echoed through the tunnel. Another flash of lightning illuminating Kurt punching John hard in the stomach. Kitty's eyes teared up. This wasn't her Kurt. Something was wrong with him. "What the hell is the matter with him!?" Laura cried, pushing past Jean, trying to get to the fight. Scott put his arm out. "Laura, wait. Kurt's gone nuts. If you go out there you could be worse off then John." Another loud crack followed by a cry of pain rang out. "But if we don't stop him Kurt'll KILL him!" Laura cried. Kitty pushed her sideways. "HE WILL NOT!" She cried angrily. Laura looked at her friend surprisedly. Kitty calmed down slowly, and another crack echoed though the dark, and another grunt of pain. Scott frowned slightly. "No, Laura's right. This has gone on far enough." He called into the dark. "KURT! Enough. You can stop now." The brutal sounds of combat continued, and another flash of light illuminated John punching Kurt in the face. Then darkness consumed the arena again. "Kurt! Stop! John! Enough! Fight's over!" No reply, just more sounds of combat. Scott powered up his visor. "Guys, that's enough. Stand down." The vizor cast a low glow over the five or so feet ahead of them. "damn it…" He grumbled. "Come on guys." He stepped out into the midst of the arena and was knocked back. He fired an optic blast into the air. It illuminated the arena for a moment, revealing the two still locked in combat. Bobby ran up next to Scott. "I got it." He froze a pillar to the ceiling in the middle of the room. Scott shot an optic blast at it, and the refraction of the ice caused a low red glow to fill the room. They watched Kurt deliver a series of vicious blows to a wavering John. He staggered back, coughed. Scott and the others rushed forwards, some grabbing Kurt, the others supporting John, who was beaten to a bloody pulp. Kurt growled, straining against his friends. "GET OFF ME! LET ME GO DAMN YOU!!" He snarled and lashed about, trying to break away from his friends. The light began to fade, and Kitty stepped up to her boyfriend. As the final light faded, she pulled her hand back. Darkness shrouded the X-Men and a loud 'SLAP!' rang out. Silence enveloped them.

* * *

††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

Kurt didn't leave John's side in the three days it took him to recover. He felt horrible. He could barely remember that night, other than the fact that he had enjoyed himself thoroughly. And that sickened him. He shivered again, looking at the awful bruises and cuts that covered John's face. He had woken up plenty, but Beast was confining him to the infirmary untill he was fully healed. Kurt knew John harbored no hard feelings. Kitty, on the other hand, wasn't talking to him. When he asked John about it (John was, after all, in a relationship with Laura. They did tend to have their fights) all he could tell Kurt was to 'try to do one of two things. Talk it out or wait it out. If you're gonna wait it out don't even put the tip of your tail outta line, otherwise you'll just be right back into it'. John was still weak, though. Kurt could see it when he talked, when he moved, even when he just sat there. Kurt broke the silence when John had woken up for the fourth time. "Vhy didn't you armor up?" He asked softly. John looked at him wearily, his abalone shell colored eyes glittering in the light. "Because… I can't." He murmured. Kurt was shocked. "I'm trusting you not to tell anyone, ESPECIALLY not Laura. Beast already knows…" Kurt realized something. "It was vhen Laura kicked you in the head, vasn't it? Zhat's vhy you don't vant her to know?" John looked at the ceiling. Kurt grasped John's hand in a brotherly way, smiling a bit. "Your secret is safe vizh zhe fuzzy dude." John laughed. Kurt could tell already, his friend would make a speedy recovery.

* * *

The only other incident came when Kurt, John and Scott went shopping. The mall was crowded, and so much bigger than their home mall in bayville. They split up, looking for food, essential accessories, and for a few people, some extra shwag. As John and Kurt were in the tools and appliance section looking for screwdrivers (So that Logan could fix his bike) a low static hum filled the air. John and Kurt both looked at each other with the same thought. Unfortunately, the TVs to the left of them exploded, and the radio section at the other end of the outlet went haywire. An electric current ran through the store, and a man with a green jumpsuit complete with a goggled mask with a face guard stood up on a shelf. "ALL RIGHT EVERYBODY HIT THE FLOOR!" His facemask peeled back, and Kurt groaned. "Electro!" Kurt had heard about him on the news every time his biggest idol Spider-Man fought him. John looked at him with a blank expression, not realizing they were the only two NOT on the floor.

"Who?"

"Dude, it's Electro!"

"Who's electro?"

"Only vone of Spider-Man's most dastardly fillains."

"One of his what?"

"His fillains. A fillain. An enemy."

"Ah." Electro was tapping his arm, looking slightly peeved. "Um, are you two brain dead or something? I said get on the floor."

"Oh man! Mr. Electro, I just vanted to say zhat I zhink you are SO COOL! Can I get your autograph?"

"Uh? My… my autograph? Um y-yeah, sure kid." John snickered quietly as Electro pulled his gloves back on and signed a piece of paper for Kurt. "There. Now get on the ground!"

"I was about to suggest the same thing, sparky!" A red blur flew into the room and into electro, slamming him across the room with a 'OOF!' and into a TV, which promptly exploded. Kurt's jaw fell open. "NO VAY!!" He took a half-step towards the man, standing confidently where Electro had been just moments before. "Eet's Spiderman!"

* * *

John squinted at him. "He's a lot shorter in person."

"Vell zhe camera adds a few feet."

"That's a few _pounds,_ Kurt."

"Vhatever."

Spiderman was watching them curiously. "'Scuse me, but he is a big time super villain, and I am a big time super hero, you really should be running. No offense." John chuckled a bit. "I'm not the running type." Kurt was staring dumbfounded at Spiderman. "Hey, remember last monzh vhen everyone zhought you vere Peter Parker?" Spiderman turned towards him. "You really are a diehard fan, huh buddy?" Kurt nodded vigorously. "Can I have your autograph before you beat up your fillain?"

"My what?" A bolt of lightning slammed into him, sending him flying out the window. John raised his eyebrows and gave a low whistle. Kurt blinked. "Oops." John sighed. Electro leapt out the window after Spidey, and John and Kurt walked to the window after them. "Should we help?" John blinked, watching Spiderman nimbly leap over a bolt of lightning and kick Electro in the face. "Vhas?" Kurt said almost dreamily. "I said," John picked up a baseball that had been rolling down the hall. "Do we help him?" Kurt shook his head a bit. "Oh. Ja, of course." With a slight smirk John wound his arm back and pitched the ball as hard as he could at Electro. The ball hit his head with a dull thunk that made his head rock back. He snarled. "That. Hurt." He shot a bolt of lightning at John and Kurt. Kurt 'ported as John leapt over the side to the ground floor. "Eyes on the prize, Lightnin' legs." Spider-Man kicked him in the face. He leapt back. "Do you EVER shut up!" A bolt of lightning flew by the costumed hero as he nimbly leapt onto a pillar. "Not really. Ya just learn to deal with it." Electro snarled, but before he could launch another lightning bolt Kurt drove into him with a mall kart, teleporting just before it hit the villain. He reappeared next to Spiderman, his holowatch turned off. The hero coughed, waving the smoke out of his face. "Trippy. You must be a mutant?" Kurt nodded, surprised at his subdued reaction. "You're not freaking out?"

"I've dealt with a lot of things. Dudes with extra arms, super fat dudes with super strength, alien symbiotes that take over other people…"

"Vhat vas zhat?"

"Dudes with extra arms?"

"No, zhe ozher vone."

"… Super fat?"

"No, zhe last vone. Zhe… alien symbiote or vhatever."

Electro growled and blew the mall cart to pieces. Kurt blinked. "Vell, zhis should be fun." Spiderman nodded. "Hey, where'd your friend go?" Kurt dodged a lightning bolt and looked around. "Oh, John? Probably waiting for zhe right opportunity to strike." Electro growled angrily and ran at them. "I'm gonna FRY you!!" Suddenly, John dropped from the ceiling and slammed electro's head into the floor with a mammoth tomahawk punch, armor rippling and shining. The electricity died down. Electro groaned slightly as John armored down. "Well. That was easy enough." Kurt laughed. "So much for zhat fillain." Spiderman shook his head. "Y'know what? Forget about it." Kurt handed him the pen and paper. "Heeey, Xavier institute? You guys are X-Men!" Kurt blinked. "You know of us?"

"Yeah, I know the old baldy. And Shades, and Wolvie. Oh, and Storm." Kurt was in awe. "Do you vant to come back to zhe makeshift mansion?" Spidey cocked his head a bit. "Umm… sorry, but I've got someplace to be."

"Oh, Kurt understands. Thanks, Spiderman, but ah… we'll be going now." He glared slightly at Kurt and pulled him away. "Come on dude, let's get back to the mansion." Kurt shook his head to clear it. "Sorry John. Ja, let's go." He BAMFed and they were gone, just as the police arrived to carry Electro away.

* * *

(A/N: Well there you go! Worked my arsch off to get this done! Four pages XD. Well, enjoy.)


	7. Chapter 7: Horror

(A/N: chapter seven!!! Maaan, the story's already close to half done already! Jeez loweez! But hey, there's some good news. I have officially planed a third story. Haven't named it yet, but I know for a fact this story will be a trilogy… Perhaps even a saga if I can get enough reviews. WOW long authors note. Sorry about the wait, yall, but I've been sick for the past three weeks.)

_"You could have killed him you know." The voice whispered impassively at the back of his mind. "Would have been so easy. He's weaker than you, you know." Kurt was trapped in the shadows of a dark room. "I'm not listening…" He called out in an aggravated singsong voice. "But you are, Kurt. I know you are." Kurt wheeled around as a shuddering whisper of laughter echoed behind him. "Yes Kurt, I know your name. I know so much about you. Everything about you." The figure stepped into the light. Kurt's eyes widened as much as they possibly could. He was a perfect mirror image of Kurt, but with red fur, and two curled horns over his eyebrows. He stood up straight, standing easily a foot over Kurt. His face looked… older, less innocent. "V-vhas…?" A sneer slipped onto the other's face. "You know it's true Kurt. You've always wanted to meet your father!"_

_

* * *

  
_

"NO!" Kurt screamed, shooting bolt upright in his bed. He wrapped his arms around his head with a sob and curled into a ball, his tail twitching erratically. He was dimly aware when Kitty phased through his door and pulled his head into her lap whispering softly in his ear. "Shh," She murmured, pulling his bangs behind his pointed ears. "It's ok, it was just a dream." Kurt slowly recovered. He looked up at her, gold eyes pale with fear. She frowned down at him.

* * *

"Are… you ok?" She asked him softly. Kurt shivered, whimpering softly. "M-Mein Vater ist ein Damon…" Kitty frowned a bit. What did that mean? "What?" She asked him softly. By this time the others had arrived at the door. "Kitty…" Scott said, voice full of concern. "What's wrong?" Kitty shook her head, instantly recognizing the brotherly worry in Scott's voice. "He just… had a nightmare, I think." She whispered worriedly. The professor wheeled into the room. "Kitty, is kurt alright? I felt a horrible wave of dark feeling radiate through the mansion." Jean was nodding tiredly from the doorway. Kitty looked up worriedly. "Professor… What does 'Mein Vater Ist Ein Damon mean?"

* * *

"My Vhazher is a Demon?" Kurt grumbled, taking a sip of warm milk. John was sitting across from him, Scott next to him, and Rogue next to John. "Vhat zhe hell does zhat even mean? Vhy couldn't my gibberish haf been somezhing cool, like 'Ride zhe Lightning'?" John snorted his milk into his nose, trying not to laugh. Rogue rolled her eyes exasperatedly, and Scott was trying to hide his laughter behind his napkin. "Shuga', you been listening to WAY too much Tenacious D." John coughed, spluttered, and rubbed furiously at his nose, and Rogue slapped him on the back, making his head jerk forwards and bounce off the table with a dull 'thunk'. Kurt burst out laughing, and Scott, unable to contain himself any longer, fell backwards out of his chair laughing hysterically. Rogue giggled. "Oh damn. Sorry john, ah just don' know my own strength anymore." She said. John picked his head up off the table with a groan. "No um… problem…" He rubbed his forehead. Kurt calmed down a bit. "Vhell, I'm going back to bed, guys. Sleep tight." He 'BAMF'ed and Scott stood up. "Yeah, I think I'll go to bed too." He walked off. Rogue stood up. "You ok if I leave ya alone?" John nodded. "Yeah. See you later Rogue." He waited untill she had left and looked at his hand. As much as he tried… The flow of power wouldn't come. "God damn it…" He whispered quietly, distraught at his own weakness. He put his head down on the table. "What the hell is wrong with me?" He murmured. The moonlight filtered through the window and made his skin turn a ghastly shade of white. Laura was suddenly at his shoulder. He jumped. "Jesus Christ, Laur, you scared the crap out of me." She sat down next to him and took his hand. "John…" A sudden thought occurred to him. "How… how long were you listening to me?" A cold feeling rushed through him. "Long enough John." She whispered. "Laura, I'm sorry I didn't tell you-" She shook her head, cutting him off. "John… was… is it my fault?" John opened his mouth. "Tell me the truth, John." He looked at the table. He'd been trying to avoid this situation. "I… Beast and I think it was from when you kicked me in the head." He admitted sullenly. Laura frowned. "John, I'm so sorry…" She whispered, reaching up and putting her hand to his cheek. "You know I didn't mean to hurt you." He nodded, closing his eye tiredly at her cool touch, reaching up and putting his hand over hers. "I don't blame you either. And you shouldn't blame yourself."

* * *

"It's been three days, professor. He's only getting worse. I'm worried about him." The redhead was chewing nervously on her fingers. The professor raised an eyebrow. "How is he getting worse exactly, Jean?" Jean looked at the wall. She hated talking about people behind their backs. Especially Kurt, who was such a kind person. "He's been having violent outbursts, avoiding people, talking to himself, even shouting to himself…" Her emotions were swirling wildly, uncontrollably. The professor initiated mental contact with her. ~Jean, please calm yourself.~ She took a few deep breaths. "Ok… ok, sorry professor. But… I'm worried. It's like he's turning into a completely different person." The professor's fingers laced together in a pose the students often saw him in when he was thinking. "Or someone is doing the changing. Jean, I have much to think about, I'll talk to Kurt later, ok?" Jean nodded with a worried smile. "Ok professor. See you later." She left the room so the Professor could think. Kurt was hanging from a chandelier reading when she walked into the kitchen. "Hi Kurt." She said, smiling brightly at him. Kurt grunted as his only indication he had heard. He seemed zoned out, unresposive. "Kurt, are you ok?" Kurt glared at her over his book. "I'm reading. Vhat do you vant?" He grumbled. Jean frowned. "Well fine, jeez. If you wanted to be left alone you could have said so." She turned and walked off. She heard Kurt growl something in return that she couldn't hear… and didn't want to. She walked out, arms crossed. Then, Kurt bamfed and was in front of her. "Actually, you know vhat? Let's go for a little valk." He grabbed her arm, and she was gone.

* * *

"Jean? JEAN!?" Scott called, looking around the improvised x-jet hangar. "Damn, where could she be?" John looked up from his hand, which he was scratching absently. "Hasn't this happened once before?" Scott grimaced, nodding. "The whole… Mastermind deal… yeah. He used her to get at the keys needed to free Apokalips." John frowned, his face darkening. "I think this may be worse than Apokalips. Look." He pointed at the far end of the hangar, where one of Jean's X-outfits was taped to the bay doors. Beneath it, burnt into the door, read 'follow the leader'. Scott's blood ran cold, and a pit formed in his stomach. "What the hell?" He murmured. The suit's arm was upraised, as if pointing down the hall. "This is not good at all…" He said quietly.

* * *

Kitty and Kurt walked silently down the hall beneath the mansion that lead to the improvised Cerebro room, which was just a big room in the sewers. "Like, who would do that to a costume?" She mumbled to herself. Kurt shrugged. "I don't know."

"I wasn't talking to you."

"Oh, for zhe love of-"

"Don't even start with me! I already told you needed some time to cool down!!"

Kurt frowned, gold eyes flashing with hurt. "A month isn't enough time for you!? I said I vhas sorry, to you AND to him! John forgives me, vhy can't you!?" Kitty whirled around, anger stirring inside her. "Because it wasn't you ! It was… something else, okay?!" Kurt sneered at her, eyes flashing red, the same evil smirk she had seen last night. "Kurt…?" She asked as he stepped into the shadows. "Kurt, you're scaring me." A whisper of laughter sounded behind her. "Kurt is gone, girlie. It's… something else."

* * *

Laura looked up with a start as the shriek rang out through the sewer. Thunder and lightning boomed overhead. Bobby and Rahne looked up, troubled looks on their faces. "Did you guys hear that?" Bobby asked. Rahne nodded. "I think it w's Kitty." Laura frowned, memories from that night in the sewer coming back to her. "And I think I know what the hell is going on. Follow me." She bounded off as another boom sounded from thunder above them.

* * *

"Jesus shit!" Scott jumped as another thunderous boom resounded through the sewers. John chuckled. "Heh. Scared of the storm Scott?" He pointed the fhashlight he had at the ceiling. The flashlight flickered and he stirred uneasily. "Scared of the dark, John?" Scott growled. John glared at him. For only having one eye, he was very menacing. They both looked up startled at the shrill scream that resounded softly through the sewers. They looked at each other. "Let's move." They sprinted off.

* * *

Kitty tripped and fell over a piece of plywood. "No, no, no nononono…" She scrambled to her feet and sprinted off. A 'BAMF' sounded and she dodged sideways. A swipe sounded, and an angry growl. "Hold still damnit." He snarled. "Get AWAY from me!" She phazed through a wall and ran into John, knocking him over. "Whumph!" Scott snickered. "John, oh thank god, John, get me the hell out of here!" She felt her heart pounding. "John, Kurt's gone crazy! I think he's the one who took-" There was a loud Bamf, and Kurt grabbed Kitty and dissappeared. "Son of a bitch!!" John swore, staggering back. "Shit! Scott, where's the flashlight!?"

"I dunno! You're the one who dropped it!!"

"Where the hell did he take Kitty!?"

"I DON'T KNOW JOHN!!" Another 'BAMF' sounded, and then a hard punch caught John in the chest. "Crap! Scott he's here with us!" His voice resounded hollowly down the tunnel. "Scott?" Silence. The only response was the thunder and lightning pounding down on the street over them. Then a loud 'SHUNK!' and a pair of claws came through the thin wall, scaring John so much he jumped. "Holy shit!" He was panting heavily, and when Laura cut through the wall he sighed relievedly. "John?" Laura said, looking around. "Where's Scott?" John took a shuddering breath to calm himself down. "It's Kurt. Kurt has them all."

* * *

(Woohoo! Chapter Seven complete. Sorry for the inconvenient lapse of time… I was SUPER sick!)


	8. Chapter 8: Mephisto

(A/N: All right, ready for chapter 8 everyone? COS HERE IT IS!!)

"Keep running!" they flitted down the tunnel, not wanting to know what was behind them. "But- Logan, why are we running from HIM!?" The sound of many feet pounding down the sewer tunnel filled the still air, and behind them the sound of a four-legged animal got closer and closer. "If you stop running then he'll get us! Just focus, Jamie.. We need to find John, Laura and Bobby!" A loud snarl floated up the tunnel. "Why is he doing this!? Rahne, I'm scared!" The group ducked around the corner, and stopped, panting heavily. The redhead knelt in front of the young boy, placing a calming hand on his shoulder. "I know, Jamie. We all are. But Kurt isn't feeling his usual self right now, and you heard what John said over the comm… He's taken Jean, Scott and Kitty. We can't let him take us too." The young boy sniffed, then wiped his eyes and nodded. "Wait. Where's Mr. Logan!?" Rahne wheeled around, realizing that the teacher was gone. "Mr. Logan!! Mr. Logan!? Ms. Ororo!!" Rahne called. No response. _Just like with Roberto and Sam._ "Come on Jamie, we can't stop now!" She sprinted off, the young boy following her closely. "We have to find the others. If we don't-" BAMF. "R-rahne?" The only sound was the drops of water in the sewer as the storm raged over them. "H-hello?" A shuddering intake of breath. "Hello?"

* * *

"Rahne, you there? Logan? Ororo?" John spoke clearly into the comm. "Shit! He must have got them." A large blue shape moved swiftly at his side. "john, relax. I'm sure they're fine. Logan has a long record of experience." John frowned into the darkness and waving flashlight beams ahead. "But it just doesn't make sense, dammit. Why is Kurt picking us off?" Hank McCoy, Beast, shrugged, a motion John could only feel in the dark. "I don't know, John. What's important now is finding them." For a while after that, the only sounds were his, Beasts, Icemans, X-23s and his's labored breathing and pounding footsteps. Amara was still upstairs in the mansion with Professor X in case this was all just a Hellfire ploy… But John knew better. He was worried about Jamie, due to his young age and lacking combat experience. He knew… hoped… that Logan and Ororo and Rahne could handle themselves… according to their last update it was just the four of them in their group… Cannonball and Sunspot had been lost. But the comm silence on their end boded worse. John knew that this was far from over. Professor X's voice now, crackled over the comm. "John, do you know what has happened to Logan and their group? I can't sense them any longer." A cold pit formed in John's stomach. "Any of them?" Silence for a moment. "Jamie, I think. But he's distraught." John growled. "We're down to five already. Professor, any luck on any of the others?"A hiss of static. "No, I-" Amara's voice, from somewhere nearby. "Professor, look out-" A crackly 'BAMF' came through the clip and John swore to the air. "Shit!" They all stopped, panting. "John, what's wrong?" Laura came up to him, frowning. "It's… The professor is gone." He heard Laura's breath catch in her throat. "So it's just the four of us?" John shook his head. "Jamie's still out there. We NEED to find him!" He said. Laura grabbed his hand reassuringly. "John, relax. We'll find Jamie before Kurt does." She said, rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb. He sighed heavily. "Well ah.. we'd better find him!" They all nodded, running off. John stayed at the back of the group, talking with beast. He had a feeling he knew where Kurt was taking everyone.

* * *

After running for what seemed like hours, they heard quiet whimpering emnating from the tunnel ahead of them. Laura smiled. They had found Jamie, thank God. John ran ahead of her. "Jamie!" He called. The sniveling stopped and a frightened voice called out. "J-John?" Jamie came running into the light, straight into John, and began to sob. John looked at Laura for help, but she just shrugged. Kids just weren't her thing. Jamie was sobbing into John's shirt. "A-and one minute… they were there and then th-they weren't!" John was patting his back awkwardly. Beast took Jamie from him with an easy nod, consoling the boy. John stood up with a relieved sigh. "Kids… really aren't my thing." He grumbled. Laura giggled, slipping her hand into one of his and lacing their fingers together. "You're so cute when you're embarrased." John shifted uneasily. "I'm not embarrased." She cocked an eyebrow, putting her other hand on her hip. John must have felt the gesture even in the dark, because he cleared his throat. "Well maybe a little bit." She giggled again, leaning up to kiss his cheek. "Uuh… crap, I can't find you." Suddenly, his lips met hers. She leaned against his chest, thankful that it was pitch black. After what felt like an hour they separated. John chuckled, out of breath. "Find me yet?" He whispered jokingly in her ear. She sighed exasperatedly and took his hand, following the others.

* * *

Soon enough they came to an intersection that split off into three separate corridors. Laura frowned. "What the hell? This tunnel shouldn't be this big here." The light had gotten better, to the point where they could see dim shapes. However, the light was filtering red and orange, like in a volcanic pit (Unfortunately John knew what that was like… it was a long story). John grimaced. "tHe light is coming from here, though." He took a flashlight from Iceman and shined it down the tunnel. They all stepped back in surprise. The tunnel was made of what looked like… "Volcanic rock…" Beast murmured. John looked at Beast with some surprise. "Mr. McCoy, you know what is up with this?" The man nodded. "I remember Kurt telling me once about his trips into the dimension he teleports through. It was volcanic in nature and filled with-" A shrill animal cry echoed out of the tunnel they stood in front of. John blinked surprisedly. "Erm… Was it filled with… very loud… turtles?" He asked meekly. Laura looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "Turtles, John?" He shrugged. "Hey, just trying to stay positive." Bobby snickered. "Well whatever it is I doubt it's a-" There was another inhuman shriek and a red, multi-armed dinosaur came bounding out of the tunnel, tackeling Bobby, who screamed shrilly in fear. It had about two seconds on top of the iceman before a fist caught the side of it's head and sent it skittering away from him. The demon dino snarled at John and leapt at him. John ducked, and Laura socked it with a dull crunch, sending it flying down the passageway and out of sight. John grimaced. "We're gonna have to go after it huh?" He mumbled. The other four nodded. Beast walked up to him. "Well, at least it proves your theory, Johnathan. He's in the Center Room."

* * *

John sprinted down the tunnel, which was growing more volcanic every step. He dodged monsters, ducked under volcanic bridges, and leapt over bubbling pits of fire as he ran. Kurt was in the makeshift sparring chamber they had been using. He knew that this wouldn't end well. "JOHN, WAIT UP!" Laura's voice came from behind him, and he skidded to a halt. Laura, Beast, Bobby, and Jamie ran up to him, panting. "Ok… let's take… a rest." Bobby said. Beast had been carrying Jamie and now set him down. "Robert, can you give us some cover?" Bobby nodded, creating thick ice walls on either side of them. John leaned against a wall. He looked ahead of them with a vacant stare. "This is crazy. We've got to finish this tonight." He muttered. "And to hell with the consequences." The ground rumbled. "Oh, to 'hell' you say?" A deep, stony voice rumbled. "I can oblige to that." A laugh shook the floor and suddenly they were gone.

* * *

A/N: Oooh, scaredy!! Sorry for the delay, folks, but I'm SWAMPED with school. For those of you who didn't get this... very _vague_ context clue, this new thing is NOT Kurt's father, Azazel, it's someone (Or something) else. For all of you marvel lovers out there I hope you figure it out! R&R OR I KEEL U!


	9. Chapter 9: Strange

(A/N: The plot, she thickens!! All righty guys, check this out! OMG, it's the 9th chapter! That means I'm almost halfway done!)

John opened his eyes and found himself lying facedown in the middle of a pentacle. _A pentacle! _Where the hell was he now? He hauled himself to his feet and looked around. He was surrounded by fire, and red stone. He looked down and realized he was standing on a humongous onyx slab. "Jesus Christ…" A whisper passed through his mind.

"Invoke a name that means nothing here if you wish, human… You are food now!!" A group of demonic imps erupted out of the stone around the slab and ran for him, gibbering madly. John growled, leaping over them and off the slab. He landed, rolled, and sprinted off, screaming at the top of his lungs for the others.

A giant demon with flaming horns and goat legs stepped into his view from behind the ruins of a citadel. It was easily twice his size, maybe fifteen feet tall. It held a sword that was almost as tall as it was, and it sneered at him. John swore. He sped up, putting as much weight as he could behind him. He sprang at the demon and slammed into it, hearing bone crack in its chest.

It gave a strangled, choking cry and toppled over backwards. John rolled to his feet, not breaking his stride. He could hear the demons behind him, gibbering angrily. More began to crawl out of the ground, like corpses from a grave. Ahead of him, a shrill scream rang out, fueling him to go faster.

He leapt over a wall, sailing into the air. Below him, Laura was fighting furiously with her claws against a slew of demons. Jamie was cowering behind her. John slammed into a demon, smashing it into the ground with a crunch and a yelp. He grabbed the tail of one and swung it into the other, then fought towards Laura. He kicked, punched, and bashed red, horned heads as fast as he could. When he finally reached her, the demons had almost overwhelmed her. He snarled and swept his arm out, slamming two demons away from her. She shuddered. "Thanks." He kicked a demon in the chest. "No problem." He hissed as a swordpoint raked across his cheek.

"Dammit!!" His hand flew to his cheek where the thin cut was, bubbling and hissing slightly from acid on the blade. He caved in the demon's skull and took its sword, furiously fighting off the demons, now armed with a blade the size and shape of a meat cleaver. HE and Laura fought furiously, but they were slowly being pushed back to the cliff face behind them where Jamie was cowering. A bright flash of golden light exploded in the sky over them, and a voice cried, "That is quite enough!" A huge runic symbol appeared emblazoned in gold on the ground. The demons hissed and shrieked, evaporating into gold dust and disappearing. A floating figure, cloaked by a large blue cape with an elaborate collar, floated down in front of him. "Greetings, friends. My name is Doctor Strange."

* * *

A light bulb went off in Laura's mind. "Doctor Strange? As in THE Doctor Strange? As in the Sorcerer Supreme?"

The man nodded. He had black hair, two stripes of white at either sideburn. His mustache-goatee combo was completely black, but the wrinkles around his ice blue eyes suggested he was older than he looked. "That is quite right young one. You are one of Charles's students, yes?"

Laura nodded. "So then that was the disturbance I felt in Mephisto's Realm."

John blinked. "Mephisto's Realm? Is that where we are?"

Doctor Strange nodded. "Yes. Mephisto is a demon of great power… as long as he remains within this realm, he is invincible. Though, he has chosen to help Azazel, and this worries me…"

His voice trailed off, and Laura raised an eyebrow. "Azazel? Who's that?"

Strange looked up. "The demon who started all of this. Kurt Wagner's father."

John frowned. "Father?" Doctor Strange turned his eyes on John.

"Of course. Not to put it bluntly, but did you think Mr. Wagner's resemblance to a demon was mere coincidence?"

John's fists clenched. "Hey, pal, he may have spazzed out a bit but he is NOT-"

Laura grabbed his arm. "Take it easy John… Doctor Strange isn't someone you'd want to mess with." She whispered in his ear. The doctor let out a low, melodious laugh. "You have nothing to fear from me, child. And it is fine. His reaction is understandable, and perhaps my words weren't well enough chosen." He turned, adjusting his cloak, and began to walk away. "Come. I will lead you out of this nightmare."

* * *

Laura could tell that John felt uncomfortable in the demon realm. Jamie was perched on his shoulders, and was looking back and forth to find the final member of their missing team. They'd found Iceman lying unconscious against a wall, in human form. He was panting now, and Laura felt sorry for him. Beast was still nowhere to be found. Every once in a while they came across more demons, or a heat-fried corpse.

Laura eventually got the gist of what the place was for (Both through Strange's explanation and through what she had observed). It was a torture center. You made a deal with this Mephisto person, and he took your soul. While she was contemplating this, Strange stopped with a low 'hmm'.

Laura frowned. "Dr. Strange, is something wrong?" The doctor nodded. "I believe we are close to our objective." John grumbled. "Good. The sooner we get out of this hellhole the better." Iceman groaned. "You're telling me…" They tromped up a hill, flames crackling around them. Once she had reached the top to stand beside strange, she gasped. "Oh, my god…"

* * *

Flames. Distant screams and shrieks of laughter and howls of delight. Cries of pain. Where was she? Kitty tried to move her hand to rub her face, found herself tied to a post. A cross shaped post. She could feel rough ropes around her wrists. Her head hurt. Her eyes stung when she tried to open them, and at first she thought her eyes were injured too. But then she realized the blood red taint that dominated her vision… was the sky.

Her eyes snapped open in surprise. She was tied to a wooden cross, the wood burnt and blackened, laying on her back. All around her, her friends were tied to similar stakes- dead or unconscious, she couldn't tell. She tried to scream, and found that there were rags from her own uniform tied around her mouth. She calmed herself. She had to look around. Where was she? Where was Kurt? Kurt… She remembered now.

How she had got there… Kurt had teleported her here. But how? Kurt couldn't teleport between dimensions. How had he brought her here? Where WAS here?

A low, black chuckle resounded through her mind, like a dozen of different voices- male and female- speaking at once, some deeper than humanly possible, some higher than humanly possible. . ~Ahh, so many questions. So much hurt. It's simply… delicious.~

A great black thing blotted out her vision. She gasped. This thing was easily the size of the Juggernaut. But it's skin was pitch black, and it's eyes glowed red. Sworls of shadow swam at it's feet, and it spoke again in her mind. It looked like it was covered in shadow. ~Give in to it, Catherine… Let it consume you…~

Definitely a he, she decided. It turned to one side. She saw that it wore no clothes, but had no genitals. It was made only of different shades of black. And red. It turned it's sunken red eyes on her. Eyes the size of Venom's, and of the same shape. HE had light pink pupils, slit shaped. His hair… if it could even be called that… was long, tapering back in needle-like points behind him. It made a fearsome mane, especially since the hairs started out as thick as her calf on his head. There were enough to turn any of them into a pincushion if he tried. A tail swished out from behind it- not a cute one like Kurts, but a thick, long one, like that of a lizard. At the end, four spikes jutted out of it. It lashed anxiously out behind the beast. It only had three fingers, and they all ended in tapered points. No visible mouth, or ears.

She squirmed as it approached, drew a sharp claw lightly down her cheek. ~How easily it would be to snap your pretty little mind…~ Her eyes widened, but another voice rang out, with all the authority and command of a king.

"Blackheart!" The beast's head snapped up. "You touch her again and you die." A familiar voice. _Kurt's _voice. But not his voice… it was different. More sinister. The beast- Blackheart- snorted and walked away.

~Bah! You think you have all the power, Azazel, but beware. I would like nothing more to break you like a twig!~

Kurt-Azazel laughed. It sounded like two voices were talking at once, of similar tone, but one slightly deeper- and millenia older. "You fool. This body is not my own, killing me simply means unleashing me in THIS dimension… And you cannot afford to have your father call his dogs on you again, now can you." The beast growled. "Do not defy me again Blackheart. Remember who let you out of the prison the Ghost Rider put you in."

~As… As you wish, my lord Azazel.~ It knelt, then stood and walked away, tail swishing angrily behind it. She looked back as something walked behind her. It was Kurt! But… He looked different. Horns were poking out of his forehead, and his blue fur, his blue fur that she loved so much, was stained with red, which seemed to be spreading. He was changing. His tail swished behind him.

"Ah, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty. What affection my boy holds for you. Enough to cause him to repeatedly break my control to keep you safe. Admirable really." he picked at his nails, then leant down and lifted up her cross with one hand. It raised her up, then jammed the pointed end into the ground. "Now we can talk face to face." Kurt was taller than she had realized when he stood upright, for even though she was maybe three feet off the ground, Kurt was looking at her directly in the eye. His eyes had turned completely red. When he sneered or laughed, red brimstone smoke billowed out of his mouth and nose. "Poor little Kitty lost in a Lion's den. Oh, and don't try that cute little phasing trick of yours. It won't work here."

He waved his hand dismissively and walked away. "Mephisto was kind enough to bring what friends little Kurti had not caught here. They're on their way, as I'm sure you'll be happy to know." Kitty's heart leapt. John, Laura, Beast, Iceman, on their way here? They could get them out of this.

~You give her false hope Azazel. Or have you gone back on your promise to let ME rip them apart?~ The beast was hunched over another human. Not any of them. But… he flickered. A human soul. Blackheart mercilessly ripped off his arm, eliciting a short lived scream, before Blackheart turned away with it. Crunching sounds ensued, and the sound of chewing. She shuddered. Azazel laughed bloodily. "Oh I haven't, Blackheart. I haven't."

* * *

John skidded down the hill. At the bottom, there was a man chained up. But where his head should be there was only a flaming skull. It was Johnny Blaze, better known as the Ghost Rider. And he was trapped in a pentacle. Demons were dancing around him, chanting in their guttural language. Strange and the others were ahead of him, running (Or floating) towards the circle.

John leapt clean over the rest of them, slamming into the first Demon and making it explode into a pile of red dust like a sandcastle in a powerfan. Green lightning crackled into three more, and Laura tackled another with her claws unsheathed. They made short work of the demons, and soon they had Ghost Rider unchained. "Thanks, really. And I really hate to keep it short, and sweet, but get the hell outta here." He said gruffly. "You kids don't know what yer dealin' with."

John looked at Laura with a barely restrained laugh. "Holy crap. It's another Wolverine!" They both burst out laughing.

Ghost Rider and Strange looked at each other bemusedly. "Anyways…" Strange said. "If we're going to find your friends… we should leave now." Iceman and Jamie struggled up to them. "Let's get out of here." They said in unison. John turned to the horizon again. There was a brighter red light coming from further down. Strange nodded. "That's where they are. Don't worry John, we'll save them."

John started walking after Ghost Rider, who was tromping angrily towards the light. "I know." He whispered to himself. Then he shook off his doubts and sped up to talk with Ghost Rider. "So.. uh… What are you doing in Mefutsinputz's realm?" He asked.

Ghost Rider raised a flaming brow. "Looking for Blackheart." He growled. John was starting to figure he couldn't not growl. Then again, his throat must have been really, REALLY dry. "I'm sorry looking for whom?" John said, eyebrows raised.

"Blackheart. The demon prince of this blasted hellhole. And it's called _Mephisto's realm. _Get it right." John grumbled a 'yessir' and looked forwards. Soon enough, they reached the cliff overlooking a ruined amphitheatre.

"Oh, god…" Laura whispered. All their friends. Beast was there, too. "Jesus christ, we've gotta save them!" John howled, preparing to leap down.

Ghost Rider's hand shot out. "Stop, you idiot! Look." He pointed. A big, hideous black beast was picking it's toes by a crumbling wall. "THAT's Blackheart."

John blinked. "You're kidding me. We have to face that monstrosity?"

Ghost Rider snarled. "No. He's mine, understand?" John nodded. "All right. Then where's-" Laura gasped suddenly, pointing. "Kurt!"

John followed her gaze. What he saw made him shiver. "That CAN'T be Kurt." His fur was almost completely red. Ram's horns curled from his brow. He was robed in thick red smoke, almost solid. Strange nodded sadly. "I'm afraid it is, my friend." John's hands curled into fists. "We've GOT to save him. ALL of him. And the rest of them." He said. Laura put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, John, we will." John nodded. "Let's get them, and get the hel out of this… mefumblebum's realm." Ghost Rider smirked. "Well, we're going to need a plan…"

* * *

"I vant to rip off your head." A laugh. "Good. Fuel me with your anger. You're not going anywhere, young man."

Kurt was bound in chains. There was nothing but blackness around him, and a sneering red demon in front of him. "You could be so much more, Kurti. So much more. But you're content to stay with these knuckle-dragging sop monkeys. Pah. You make me sick."

The demon spat into the dark. "You're not even half human. Not like you thought. You're half mutant, half demon. Oh, your mother didn't know, of course. Not sure how she'd react if she found out. But you can attribute my flawless possesion of your body to your mother's genes."

Kurt snarled, struggling against his restraints. "I'm going to KILL you vhen I get out of zhis!!" He shrieked hoarsely.

Azazel merely laughed. "No, Kurti. If you try to escape then I'll kill you. And first I'll kill your little kitty. Understand?" Kurt instantly fell limp. "I… yes, father."

"Good boy."

* * *

(A/N: Sorry for the super delay but I'm seriously swamped. Well here it is… the super longass chapter. Next chapter ties off the Mephisto's Realm story arc, and then the next ten chapters will be for the Hellfire. Peace, I'm out!!)


	10. Chapter 10: As One Soul

(A/N: Chapter Ten has arrived, here to tie off the Mephisto's Realm story arc and end the first half of the story!! Fireshifter: Your concerns have been noted, and so I've put in a bit of Logan face-pounding.)

"Kitty? Oh, Kitty? Wake up, little cat. Face the lion." Kitty's eyes opened, stung. She closed them tight again. "Aww, did the wind sting your wittle face?" A malicious laugh. Azazel's laugh. "Well you'd better get used to it. You're going to be here for a while."

Kitty shivered as the demon walked off. She looked around. Now there was a large pentacle on the ground. Her stomach did a flip. Was Azazel planning to sacrifice them? She whimpered a bit behind her gag. Blackheart was busy picking his fingernails. Her heart fluttered. She should just give up.

~NO kitty!~ Jean's voice rang through her head. ~Don't give up. You can't give up!~

Kitty shook her head dismally, tears running down her face. ~Jean… Why not? Kurt is dead, we're all tied up, and that monster… thing is going to eat our friends when they get here!~ Jean's mind sent comforting thoughts into hers.

~Can you see John letting that thing eat him?~ Thinking about that made kitty want to laugh. ~Haha. No, I can see your point. But still.~ She put her chin on her chest in thought. Her thoughts were interrupted, however, by a loud 'BOOM!' A man flew over the camp, casting lightning from his hands. Kitty knew him as Dr. Strange from a previous encounter. He was wading through the throng of demons, blowing them to powder left and right. Kitty was amazed.

Blackheart got to his feet, his eyes glowing bloody murder. ~STRANGE! You DARE interfere!?~ It began to sprint towards the sorceror supreme. But a low roar, like that of a fire, ran through the air.

A motorbike appeared out of nowhere, slamming hard into Blackheart. "YOU'RE MINE!!" Ghost Rider drove the beast into a wall, making a loud 'BOOM' and a billowing shroud of smoke and dust.

While Strange fought the Demons, Azazel was floating towards him. "The sorceror supreme… what a pleasant surprise."

Strange turned to face Azazel. "When this is through, you'll be banished again, Azazel. Don't think otherwise."

The Demon King simply laughed. "I find that hard to believe." Then they engaged in combat. Thunder shook the sky. Lightning rent the earth and fire scorched the world around the two combatants. And while this went on, something snuck up behind kitty. It pulled her gag down and she started to scream, but a hand clamped over her mouth. "Kitty, Shh! Do you want to get us all killed?" Laura's voice. They came. Laura got her down from the cross. John and Bobby were busy untieing Cyclops and Jean. "Help us get the others." Laura whispered. "We're taking this fight to them!"

* * *

Kurt could see it all. He couldn't stop any of it. "See this Kurti… This is why your father had to get a new body." A flash of lightning. Strange's hastily thrown up shield of energy. "To deal with human scum like this."

Kurt ignored him. He could feel Azazel's strength weakening from Strange's onslaught. The chains that held him were- was it his imagination?- fading away to nothing slowly. He grimaced, straining against them while his father was preoccupied. Then he felt a lance of anger from his father. He looked up. Eyes wide as he saw Kitty and the others free. John, Laura, Jamie, and Iceman with them. They were shaking the weariness off of themselves and preparing for a fight. He cheered silently, but his happiness turned to dread as Azazel swatted Strange aside and turned towards his friends, anger rippling through him.

Kurt looked away, biting his lip. He couldn't watch this. A loud, angry cry of "X-MEN! GO!" And the sounds of movement. He tore his hand away from his face and watched as the X-Men sped at him. "Kurti, your friends are most determined. _Ich werde sie zur halfte reiben._

Kurt screamed in agony as a million points of fire were ignited on his skin, something he recognized as a Psychic attack. Then a farmiliar voice. ~Kurt?~ Kurt had only the energy to send a mental affirmative.

~Oh, god, Kurt! You're alive!~ Jean's voice. He sent her the impression of pain. ~Kurt, hold on, we're going to get you-~ Jean's head snapped backwards, as if she were hit.

Azazel raised a hand and sent her toppling into Logan, who slammed into the ground. Kurt heard Azazel speak through him. "Pathetic! Try to get in as much as you like, you pitiful monkeys, but-"

A red beam of kinetic force slammed into his stomach, cutting off his speech. Kurt ignored the pain, cheering silently for Scott. "Will you PLEASE shut up?" Scott snarled, his visor smoking. There was a loud, angry roar as Beast leapt for Azazel. Kurt's eyes widened. _Nein. _Too late. Beast was sent hurtling away with a flick of Azazel's wrist. Then, a great, ominous force assaulted Azazel. It took Kurt a moment to realize that it was Professor Xavier. He'd never realized just how powerful the professor's powers were.

Azazel jerked back with a shriek. "DAMN you Xavier!" It roared. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" A great, dark primal scream rent the air as Azazel retaliated, a psionic wave of such force it sent everyone tumbling backwards. Then, a furious snarl rent the air and something tackled Azazel to the ground. It was Wolverine! He slammed his fists into Azazel again and again, claws sheathed. Kurt cheered more, silently.

Wolverine snarled. "Get- OUT- of- the- ELF!" He accentuated every word with a punch. When he had finished, he sat back, chest heaving. His knuckles were raw, and bits of metal showed through the skin. Azazel smirked up at him, cracking his neck. Then he waved his hand and sent Wolverine sailing towards the warzone where Blackheart and Ghost Rider were fighting. He disappeared in the smoke and dust.

Kurt felt rage start to simmer inside him. Rage was an uncommon occurrence in him, and it made him feel… icky. But he felt it begin to boil inside him. John was slammed into a stone pillar. He watched as Scott's own optic blast was reflected back on Laura, and Jean was hit with a psychic wave. He watched his friends drop, one by one, and his rage grew. Then, Azazel reached for Kitty, dazed by a blast of psionic energy.

"NOT MEIN KATZCHEN!!" He screamed, unleashing all the rage built up inside him in a furious retaliatory strike directly on Azazel's mind. He watched Azazel straighten up, shriek, and grab his head in agony. Kurt screamed in fury again, and Azazel shrieked in pain again. "GET OUT OF MY BODY!" A cry mirrored both by Kurt and Azazel. "GET OUT! GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!!"

* * *

Kitty looked up in shock and fear as Azazel fought against Kurt in his mind. Kurt screamed through his father's control. "GET OUT!" He said, in Kurt's voice. "GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!" He staggered against a spire of stone, then screamed. The horns on his head exploded into red light. His blood red fur fell from his body like a winter coat, revealing Kurt's cool blue fur. His tail lashed violently from side to side, as a figure began to from beside him.

Azazel began to materialize as his features fell away from Kurt. Kurt screamed once more in agony, and then Azazel was whole. The demon surveyed the assembled X-Men, then turned to his son. "I have no use for you anymore." Kitty screamed in fear, felt her heart break, felt horror fill her, as the Demon King flung a very exhausted Kurt into a column of flames. "KURT! NO!!!"

* * *

Azazel turned back to the others. Spouts of flame geysers were beginning to sprout up everywhere now. The X-Men looked on in horror. Kurt, their loveable, fuzzy blue elf, was dead. Azazel had finally won. Kitty's heartbroken cries washed over them as they stared in disbelief. Kitty was curled into a ball. Rogue could not believe her eyes. Then it began to hit her. Sadness welled up in her. She gave a heavy sob. _Her brother was dead. _No more having to put up with his ridiculous pranks, or his incorrigable smiles, or his constant brotherly concern that annoyed her so much… He was dead. She sobbed again, and cried out.

"YOU KILLED MAH BROTHAH!" She screamed, hate and rage coursing through her, tears streaming down her face. "YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Her voice broke, and she fell to her knees, covering her face. Azazel's laugh caught her ears. She wanted nothing more than to beat him to a pulp.

* * *

Dead silence enveloped the scene, save for the spouts of flame and the screams of the damned in the distance. Strange had finished with the demon minions. Ghost Rider and Wolverine were standing over a broken and defeated Blackheart, glaring daggers at Azazel with murder in their eyes. John had a look of grim hatred nobody had seen on his face before. X-23's face was contorted with rage, and Scott's visor was smoking as he curled his hands into fists.

Rocks and pebbles rose from the ground around Jean, shuddering in midair as her fury threatened to disintegrate the ground under her. A fine layer of frost coated Bobby's arms, and he exhaled furiously, ice coating his chest and back. All around the Demon King, X-Men were picking themselves up, looks of grim hate, rage, and murder covering their faces. Scott stood upright, ignoring the pain in his side.

"X-Men." A single, icy calm, hate packed word. "Beat his mother F%$^ing ass." Furious howls broke out on every side, as every X-Man except for Kitty, Jamie and the Professor launched furious attacks on the bastard who had killed their friend. Azazel was overwhelmed, attacked on all sides by magic, hellfire, ice, solar rays, electricity, and every other concievable type of attack anyone could think of. Furious screams of hate and rage accompanied by Azazel's futile attempts to escape the tide of anger.

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!" He roared. "I AM AZAZEL! DEMON KING OF THE-" His sentence was cut short by Scott, who tore off his visor and gave Azazel the shock of his life, standing a mere foot away from the furious X-Man. He went flying back, and John stopped his rapid motion with a well-placed knee in the spine. Azazel gave a strangled choking noise, and was attacked by Logan, X-23 and Rahne, clawing and scratching and biting wherever they could. Laura kicked him in the stomach, and he staggered over to Logan, who whipped his hand out and nailed Azazel in the side of the head with a metal laced fist. Azazel stumbled over to Ghost Rider, who smirked, cracking his knuckles.

"Bein' alive's a bitch, aint it?" He growled. A wave of hellfire knocked him into the air. He was juggled around by electricity, solar rays, and energy firecrackers for a while before Sam slammed into him. "This time I REALLY HOPE I break somethin'!" He roared, flinging Azazel to the ground. He winced and covered his eyes with his arms, but no impact came.

The beaten, bloodied demon lord looked up at a VERY pissed, VERY powerful redhead telepath. "Oh shit is right." She snarled, and sent him rocketing into the air. Azazel screamed in sheer fear, all his original suave arrogance gone. Rogue caught him by the scruff of his robe, and glared into his eyes. "Mah name is Rogue. Nice to meet ya. Y'all killed mah only brothah. Prepare to get an ass whuppin' y'all'l never forgit'." She punched him in the face so hard his robe tore a bit. She proceeded to pound his face in untill her knuckles bled. Then she kicked him in between the legs as hard as she could, happy that she wore combat boots, and hurled him at the ground. He landed so hard the ground cratered out from under him, sending a violently large cloud of dust into the air. He crawled out of the hole and the clearing dust to find himself face to face with a very angry Professor Xavier. "Good evening Azazel." He said quietly. Azazel's pupils contracted, and a psychic attack so strong it would literally overload a normal human's brain assaulted him.

He screamed, trying to escape the professor's furious mental onslaught. He ran, his body healing of any bad wound. He bumped right into the one person he had REALLY been hoping to avoid, however… Dr. Strange. "Azazel. Your time is at a close." He said smoothly. Azazel turned from him, to the pack of furious X-Men, and back again. "Take me with you then." He said, trying to regain some dignity. His voice betrayed him, though, as his voice wavered with fear. "I'll make no objections." Strange nodded. "I'll be right back, X-Men. Tend to your wounded." He said. Then, he and a very terrified Azazel were gone.

* * *

Kitty knelt over Kurt's prone body. She felt numb inside. How could this happen to her Kurt? She sobbed, putting a hand on his chest. Then he twitched. She rubbed her eyes and looked again, prodding his chest. He squirmed again, emitting a pained moan. "K-Kurt?" She whispered. "Nngh… Keety… Vhy am I all… hurty?" He groaned hoarsely. Kitty cried out in happiness. "YOU'RE ALIVE!!" She screamed, wrapping her arms around him. He cried out in pain. Kitty hastily drew back. "Oops… my bad…" She put a hand on his cheek. He flinched in pain. "Keety… tell zhe ozhers…" Kitty frowned a bit. "Don't be sorry Kurt… nobody blames you."

"No… Eet's not zhat…please tell zhe others…"

"Kurt, shush. Rest. Nobody blames you."

"Keety… Tell zhe ozhers I'm ALIVE, vill you?" He wheezed out. "I vant zhem to… relax." Kitty blinked a bit. "O-oh."

"Yeah."

"You just wanted me to-"

"Mm hmm."

"I'll go do that then." Kitty frowned as her heart broke for her poor elf. He put his head back and closed his eyes in pain, as a bright light washed over him.

* * *

Kitty was worried about Kurt. Even though it had been three days since Strange had brought them back from Mephisto's Realm, Kurt hadn't woken up. His burns were severe, and the Professor had informed them that he had suffered severe psychological trauma. Bottom line was, he may not make it. Kitty stayed by Kurts side, watching him as he struggled for life.

"Please wake up Kurt… Please wake up." She whispered. The fire had burned his hair short, and as she ran her fingers through the dark, almost black blue color she sighed. His fur had regrown a lot darker than it was before, and while she liked it, she wished it would have happened naturally. She blinked away a tear, kissing Kurt's forehead. She waited for three more days before Kurt woke up. She was eating dejectedly in the dining room with the rest of the X-men. Dinner was quiet now, somber.

She was about to ask to be excused when a surprised shout came from the bathroom upstairs. "MEIN GOTT!" Kitty was out of her seat and up the stairs so fast that Pietro would be envious. Rogue was right behind her, followed by the rest of the X-Men. Kurt was in his bathroom, poking and prodding his face and hair. "KURT!!" She cried out, tackling him and wrapping her arms around him. She kissed his face over and over, and he laughed.

"Katzchen, easy, easy! I'm still sore!!" She sobbed into his chest. "I thought you weren't going to wake up…" She whispered into his chest. Kurt frowned, and she looked up into his eyes. But they too, had changed. Now, they were a solid, brilliant gold color, no whites or pupils to speak of. They glowed slightly, and when he opened his mouth, a faint glow came from his throat.

"Kurt…" Kitty turned, saw Rogue standing in the doorway. She moved aside, and Rogue hugged her brother carefully. "Ah'm so sorry Kurt… Ah never realized what it really meant to have a brothah 'till you almost died." She sniffed. "Can y'all forgive me?" She said.

Kurt, surprised, put his arms around her. "I already have, _mein schwester._ I already have." He closed his eyes, and they hugged for a few seconds before Rogue broke away, clearing her throat and rubbing her eye. "Ah got some makeup in mah eye… 'scuse me." She said. Kurt smiled, and Kitty slid back into his arms again. Kurt was back. Everything was going to be ok.

* * *

(A/N: Hey, I actually gave a chapter a happy ending for once! Hurrah! No cliffhangers or nothin'. Well, thanks to Avitala, LinkFangirl, and of course, Nightcrawlers Shadow, for their unwavering support and… friendshiphood… yeeeaaahhh…. Well that's the mark of the first half of the story being done folks! I can tell you all this now I think… Just one word, but I think it'll make a bunch of you excited. TRILOGY!!)


	11. Chapter 11: Morph

The young man ran frantically from the furious mob behind him. "What did I DO!?" He cried, ducking under a frantically thrown fireaxe. He lifted his alabaster white arms in front of his face and leapt through a thicket. "KILL THE MONSTER!" They cried, lighting the brush on fire.

The man leaped into a tree, sprouting thick bat wings and flying ahead of the fire. After a while, he stopped, panting, against a tree. His wings retracted into his bare back. He grimaced. He was usually easygoing. But now he was cranky. They hadn't even given him a chance to get dressed before bursting into his home. He sighed exasperatedly. Up until this point nobody had called him a monster. Everyone in his relatively small suburban area was perfectly fine with the way he looked. His bleach- white skin, his large eyes, ringed with a thick black line, and noseless face.

Because he was funny.

Because he could make them laugh. He had been able to make them see past the abnormalities.

* * *

Until now. Another axe whistled through the forest, clipping this thumb off. He winced in pain. He reached down, picking it up. His body was like play-doh. He held his hand up and squished them together, the flesh molding back together seamlessly. Then, shaking his hand, he ran off again.

"Yikes!" Another axe flew by. "Where are you people finding all these axes!?" he cried, and then he found himself against a cliff wall. "Uh… Crap." He turned around. The townspeople surrounded him. "Heh heh… uh…" He morphed, growing a thick black moustache and a turban. "He went dataway?" He said in a feeble voice, pointing upwards. They closed in on him.

The moustache and turban vanished. "Eep." Then, they all stopped. Dead. Like they were made of wax. The young man walked forwards, one eyebrow raised, and tapped the lead man's forehead. "Yoo-hoo. Anyone home?" He sighed. "Well… that's odd."

A motorized whirr penetrated the eerie silence. A man in a wheelchair wheeled into sight. "Hello, Kevin Sydney." He whirled around. Nobody knew his real name. Nobody but him. "That's right, I know your name. Although, would you prefer I call you Morph?"

* * *

(A/N: Hey, folks. Here to start off the next half of the story for everyone! It's time the Hellfire Club got what was rightfully coming to them, a big ol' can of refried whoopass! And the X-men have a new recruit to help them do it!)

_**ACT TWO, SCENE TWO**_

Kurt laughed, 'porting away with Logan's pants. He left behind a furious cry of "DAMN IT ELF!" And hysterical laughter from the others.

Scott laughed, feeling happy that Kurt was back to his usual, goofy self. He was still too thin for Scott's liking, after being in a coma for two weeks, but he supposed it was better to have him awake and moving around. Kurt's fur had gotten quite a bit darker after it grew back, and he was able to blend into the surroundings so well that it was almost impossible to see him… And thus it was more likely than ever that you would get pranked when you least expected it. Logan grumbled, trying to keep the smile off his face, and left the room.

Kurt reappeared on the chandelier. "He gone?" Kitty laughed. "Uh huh." Kurt dropped to the ground and took his spot next to her. She gave him a light kiss on the cheek, then returned to her meal.

Next to Scott, Jean took his hand. He smiled at her, and she spoke in his mind. ~Should we tell them now, or later?~ Scott mentally shrugged. ~Any time works for me.~

~Now then?~

~Sure.~

~You tell them.~

~Why me?~

~Because I'm embarassed.~ Scott sighed exasperatedly. Jean giggled a bit.

"Hey, everyone?" Scott said, standing. Everyone looked expectantly at him. Kurt paused with his fork halfway to his mouth, which was still open. John blinked, pulling his Ipod earphones from his ears.

"Jean and I…" He inhaled and exhaled. He was aware of Ororo smiling broadly. "Jean and I are going to get married." There was a burst of approval and an uproar of noise from everyone at the table.

"Congrats, Scott!" Kitty cried, clapping along with everyone else. John whooped an hollered, Kurt laughed, clapping. "Gluckwunsche! Congratulations!" Logan clapped him on the back, and Ororo teared up slightly. After a great round of congratulations, well wishings, and the like from everyone, Scott and Jean retired to 'set wedding dates'. Kurt made kissy faces as they left, and that didn't elude Scott.

* * *

"Man, I can't believe they're getting married." John said. It had been a day since Scott announced his and Jean's intentions. Laura giggled, slapping his arm. "Still? You've been saying that since last night." He raised an eyebrow, looking at her with an exasperated expression. "Well maybe I still don't believe it."

"You dork."

"You know you love it."

She laughed as he pulled her into his lap. He put his chin on top of her head, looking at Kurt and Kitty, who were in much the same position. Kurt's tail was waving back and forth lazily. Kitty was watching it with her eyes half closed. John sighed. "I'm happy things have settled down, finally." He said.

Laura nodded. "Bout damn time if you ask me." She muttered.

Kurt sighed, blinking. "I just vish my hair would grow back all ready. I miss my glorious locks."

Kitty laughed. "Aww, but it looks so cute this way."

Kurt shrugged. "Eh, I never really liked having long hair anyvays." J

ohn laughed while Kitty giggled. Laura just rolled her eyes. Kitty kissed him lightly, then stood.

"Hey, vhere ya goin'?" Kurt said, his tail coiling around her waist playfully. Kitty giggled.

"I gotta go to the little girls room, Kurt. Unless you'd like to join me?" Kurt's dark fur turned indigo. Laura laughed. John blinked sleepily. Laura looked up at him as Kitty left. "Hey John, what are you listening to?" Kurt sighed. "Knowing him? Somezhing zat vould melt any normal person's face." He snickered. John sighed exasperatedly. "I'm listening to Grateful Dead, thank you very much." He retorted.

Rogue had walked in in time to hear this. "Oh mah gawd, ah LOVE Grateful Dead!" She squealed, running over to sit down next to John. "What song?" John blinked. "The Golden Road." Rogue grinned. "Fahnally, another Dead Head. Ah thought they'd all gone extinct after the Jonas Brothers came out."

John shook his head, laughing. "Nah, man. I'm a hardcore Dead Head." Laura and Kurt looked blankly from one person to the other as they continued their conversation as if they were speaking a different language. "You see their concert in Talahassee?"

"Yeah, they were pretty good, man. I'm glad they're still touring. Listen to Led Zeppelin?"

"Lahke, only EVERY NIGHT!! What albums ya got?"

"The 'Best Of' albums, one and two. You?"

"Ah've got Mothership, Houses o' tha Holy, and Led Zeppelin IV. They're amazing, ain't they?"

"Dude, awesome!" Laura blinked. "Who are Led Zeppelin?" She asked, realising- Too late!- that it was far and away THE most wrong thing to utter. John's jaw dropped. "You've never-" He turned to Rogue, who was equally surprised. "She never-"

Rogue turned to Kurt. "Ah don't suppose y'all've heard 'em, have ya?" Kurt shook his head.

Kitty walked back into the room. "Kitty!" Rogue cried. "Yer boyfriend has nevah heard Led Zeppelin before!"

Kitty's eyes widened. "He hasn't? Kurt, ya gotta hear them, you'll totally dig it!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him to the Rec Room, Rogue hot on their heels, laughing.

John looked at Laura cautiously. "I don't suppose you want to join them, do you?" Laura raised an eyebrow. John shrugged innocently. "Didn't think so." He smiled at her, kissing her gently on the lips. She grabbed one of his earphones and slipped it into her ear, relaxing against him. He smiled, sliding his hand into hers, and leaning back on the couch. He changed the song to a new one, and she smiled, her eyes growing half-lidded.

"Wow, this is really good. I'm surprised though, this doesn't seem like the kind of stuff Rogue would listen to." John laughed, having been thinking much the same. "Well, life's full of surprises." He said, closing his eyes. He figured he could catch a quick nap before the professor got back with the new recruit.

* * *

Kevin looked nervously out the window of the X-Jet. "Professor, you sure 'bout this? I know the guys back home were used to me… are the kids at the mansion gonna be ok too?" The professor chuckled from the cockpit. "Of course they will, Kevin." Kevin scratched his alabaster white cheek. "Professor-"

Another chuckle from up ahead. "Ah yes. I'm sorry, Morph." Morph nodded. "Thanks." He blinked again, an activity that really wasn't even blinking, seeing as he had no eyelids. Or eye sockets. Or… eyes, at all really. Just white ringed by thick, black lines. He loved the way he looked. No distinguishing features, at all really. Except his mouth. And he LOVED his mouth. But he could even change that.

Morph morphed a fine tux onto himself and a cigar into his mouth. "So, chief." He said past the 'cigar' in a 'muggsy' accent. "When we gonna get there, huh?" Professor smiled back at him from the cockpit. "All in good time, Morph. All in good time. By the way, I have a costume for you in the back." Morph returned to just a simple white 'T' shirt and jeans. "Thanks, prof, but I don't need clothes. I can just morph them on." He said. He grinned. "I like it better. See, technically I'm not wearing any clothes at all."

* * *

~X-Men. Please report to the entrance hall. I've returned with our new student.~

There was a bit of commotion at this. Especially for Kurt. He fretted whether or not to bring his inducer. He bit his lip, then shook his head, swiping it from off his nightstand. He slid it on, and looked down as his 'school clothes' appeared. He sighed a bit. Kitty phased her head through his door. "Kurt, come on." He nodded, walking over to the door and opening it manually. Kitty smiled at him, slipping her hand into his. "So like, you're gonna wear your inducer?" She asked in a delicate tone. Kurt nodded, blinking a bit. "Ja." He mumbled. "Shall ve Katze?" Kitty took his arm. "Let's." She said, and they teleported to the hall. They reappeared, surprised to find that they were the first ones.

"Like, wow. It's a first." Kitty said good-naturedly. Kurt chuckled. "You vould zhink zat ve vould be last."

Kitty giggled. "'Course not, elf. Come on, let's go meet the new kid!" Kurt's smile faltered for a moment, then he turned it up to megawatt power, brushing away his doubts. "Ja." He walked over to the professor.

"Ah, Kurt, Kitty. I'd like you to meet Kevin Sydney." Kurt's megawatt smile widened, if it was possible.

"You're not normal at ALL!" He cried excitedly. Kevin blinked confusedly.

"Oh, yeah, thanks pal, neither are you." Morph retorted, rubbing his hands together. He raised an eyebrow and gave a lopsided grin that spelled 'prankster' all over it. Kurt caught himself.

"Oh. I am sorry. But you see, I am not… so good vith zhe meeting of new people." He turned off his holowatch, holding his breath.

Morph blinked a bit. "Well, I can certainly see why, blue boy. Hey, don't worry about it. Don't joke about my choice in clothing and I'll lay off your looks, deal?" Kurt grinned. He liked this kid all ready.

"Deal. Nice to meet you Kevin, my name ist Kurt." He shook the other's hand. He nodded.

"Call me Morph. Nice to meet-" At this point, his hand came off. It just fell off in Kurt's hand, and Kurt looked at it with a horrified look on his face. Kitty stared at it dumbfoundedly. Morph looked at his stump, then to his hand, and back. Then he blinked. "Oops." Then he burst out into hysterics. "Hah! HAHAHAHA!"

He doubled over, laughing hysterically. The hand wiggled in Kurt's hand, making Kitty shriek and jump back.

"Yipes!" Kurt cried, dropping the hand and recoiling as if bitten. The hand dropped to the floor, where it wiggled a bit. Then it became a frog that looked suspiciously like the looney tunes frog, put on a top hat and began to dance. Morph was laughing so hard tears leaked down his face. Kurt began to snort, then snicker, then he was laughing hysterically with Morph, who picked up the frog, and morphed it back onto him, growing another hand.

Kitty sighed exasperatedly, blowing a strand of hair from her face. "Great. We've got another Kurt." Morph and Kurt were supporting each other, both gasping for breath as tears of mirth rolled down their cheeks.

* * *

As it turned out, Morph fit in better than expected. Other than flirting shamelessly with every girl in the mansion (Resulting in more than a few slaps) he fit perfectly into life at the mansion. So well, in fact, that it seemed like he was a missing piece to their life. What was more surprising was his nonchalance about his looks. He genuinely didn't care about his white skin, noseless face, or dark bands that surrounded white, pupil and iris-less eyes.

He capitolised on his powers more than everyone else, using them to accentuate his sentences, questions, and smart remarks. He and Kurt often teamed up to pull of pranks bigger than what either could do on their own (Much to everyone's dismay… Kurt was fond of 'porting Morph's limbs into the girls' rooms for later discovery).

But more than anything, Morph and John became fast friends. He was the Evan that the institute had been missing. But it turned out there was a reason for Morph's introduction to the team, as the Professor revealed at dinner one night long after.

"You're doing what!?" Amara cried. "You can't send us away!" The professor shook his head. "Amara, please understand. I am NOT sending you away. We are merely sending you to Magneto's institute in San Fransisco for you to train." Rahne looked dismally down at her food.

"Professor, I understand that it's our best intentions y' got in mind, but… Why is it we cannae' stay? This cert'nly seems like someth'n we should be able t' decide fer ourselves." She said quietly.

Bobby sighed exasperatedly from across the table. "Oh, suck it up. It's just you, me, Jubilee, Amara, Sam, Robbie, and Ray, right? We always hang out anyways, so it's just like we're going on vacation."

Amara glared furiously at Bobby. "Shut up, Bobby! YOU may not like anyone else here but WE actually have friends here!" She fired up, pointing at his plate of mashed potatoes. They exploded, covering him in slightly singed bits of mash and gravy. She stormed out, a vase shattering into molten pieces as she passed. Bobby wiped the potatoes out of his eyes and gave the professor a forlorn look.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean it like that." John stood. "I'll go talk to her, ok?" The professor nodded as the table went back to eating. John jogged out of the room after her.

* * *

He found Amara outside, sitting in Storm's gardens, crying quietly. John sat down next to her, and she looked up at him for a moment, then looked back at the ground. "What do you want?" She asked miserably. "To rub it in my face?" John raised an exasperated eyebrow.

"Oh, come on now." He said, rubbing her shoulder. "Would I ever rub anything in your face?" He said lightheartedly.

Amara glared at him. "Yes." John chuckled a bit, raising his hands in defeat.

"Ok, maybe. But why would I rub something like this in your face?" He put a hand on her shoulder. "That is DEFINITELY not something big brothers do."

She looked up at him miserably, lip quivering. "But… why?" She whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks.

John hugged her in a brotherly manner. "It's ok, Mar. Just think about how when you get back, you'll be way better at controlling your powers."

She closed her eyes, then pulled back looking into the sky. "I know he's not sending us away… but it feels like it." John sighed, looking up with her, putting his elbows on top of his knees and clasping his hands together. ""Sometimes, we have to make sacrifices for the ones we care about, whether it's moving away to train-" She looked away. "-Or having to go a while without your little sister." She turned back to him, a small smile curving her face. "Thanks, John." She hugged him lightly, then stood. "I should probably go apologize to the others." She said. John chuckled. "Probably." He stood up, following her back to the house.

* * *

(A/N: Well, there's a chapter of a little downtime for recovery. I'll have the next one up ASAP!)


	12. Chapter 12: Mutation

(A/N: Well, folks, it's chapter twelve here to… be chapter… twelve. Yeah. I would like to dedicate this extra super long chapter to Nightcrawler's Shadow. Just know that I got your back ;D)

"School."

"Yep."

"You're joking, right?" John gave Scott the best stink-eye he could muster with only one eye. Scott sighed, seeming more than irritated. "No, John, I'm totally joking you, just forget I said anything and have a nice day."

John sighed explosively, throwing his hands in the air. "This is bullshit." He said, glaring up at Scott.

The rest of the X-Men still residing at the mansion were assembled in the rec room. "Tell meh about it." Rogue grumbled, sitting in the armchair across from them, her hand holding up her head, her legs crossed.

Morph blinked. "Well, look at it this way." A huge grin split his face- literally. His face stretched to accommodate one of those goofy cartoon grins- not the same as one of Kurt's megawatt grins, but it was the Morph grin.

"There'll be chicks there without boyfriends." Kurt chuckled. "That seems more of a bonus for YOU, than us." He said lightly.

Kitty elbowed him in the ribs with a slight giggle. "Oh? And what am I then? Wood?" Kurt laughed.

Jean interjected. "Look, guys… I know it's an unpleasant situation, but it's necessary. We have to show the world that we play by the same rules." John snorted. "Yeah, we TOTALLY play by the same rules- right down to our laser beams and teleportation." Kurt and Kitty snickered quietly, but John looked away uncomfortably as he received a withering glare from Jean. "Like it or not, we have to show that we DO play fair. Even if that means going to school."

Laura sighed exasperatedly from her spot next to John. "That is possibly the worst place to be though."

Logan groaned from his spot on the wall by the door. "Will ya stop gripin' and get over it already? Or, I could assign double the danger room sessions, and you don't HAVE to go to school."

* * *

That settled the matter so fast it was like everyone was avoiding a fate worse than death. Which everyone was.

Of course, there was still a lot of griping behind the backs of the instructors- which now counted the soon-to-be-newlyweds amongst them. The wedding had been set for the spring break, in three months. New Years was right around the corner, and the new year didn't look too promising.

Anti-mutant sentiments were rising just as fast as the mutant population was. Every day, a new mutant was born, and every day, a new hater joined the cause. There were rumblings that there was even an entire organization forming. A group called the MPC, or Mutant Population Control. Nobody liked the sound of that. Especially not Kurt. He shifted nervously in his seat on the way to school for the first time since before the mansion had been blown to toothpicks and shrapnel.

_At least it's a new school. No prejudice, nobody cussing us out._ He sighed in delight.

Kitty looked over at him. "Happy much fuzzy?" She said, snuggling a little closer to him for warmth, gazing out at the snow that littered the ground outside.

"Very much so. Nobody knows us here, ve vill fit in for once in a long period of hatred."

John nodded a bit, sitting behind them with Laura, on an X-Bus, a mainstream charter bus that Professor X had acquired through calling in a favor.

The driver was Wolverine, though he seemed very unhappy about it. They pulled up to a school that seemed to be built right into a skyscraper. Rogue's jaw dropped, and Kurt's eyes widened slightly. "Mein Gott… eet's ENORMOUS!"

John slapped his shoulder as he passed by. "Relax, dude, it's only on the first three floors."

Morph was right behind him, as they walked towards the front doors. Morph and John had image inducers on, John's grey skin and plate being hidden, Morph looking normal. Morph's image inducer made him appear a raven haired youth with a longish nose and a sly grin. His eyes were a light green colour.

Scott called after them as he stood in front of the bus, seeing as he had graduated he didn't need to go to school. "Remember, the Professor still had to register us as mutants, so keep yourselves in check!"

Kurt shook his head a bit, impressed with how seamlessly Morph, John, and the others slipped into the crowd. Kitty grabbed his arm. "Like, come on Fuzzy, you don't want to be late, do you?" The bell rang as if on cue, a loud, harsh grating sound.

"Be good guys, see ya later!" Jean called behind him. Rogue, Kitty and Kurt looked up at the school one last time, then heaved a collective sigh, and shouldered their packs, walking towards the towering school.

* * *

Kurt sat through three dull as dishwater (What a ridiculous american phrase… The dishwater he had seen was always soapy… not dull) classes, before P.E. came along. He was excited, because he had P.E. with John and according to the schedule they were having fencing. Kurt was an excellent swordfighter from growing up with the circus. He took great pride in it, and even had a pair of old german rapiers crossed on the wall over his had been presents from his Opa and Oma before coming to America, and they were beautiful, still in pristine condition.

He smirked a bit as he entered the gym, where the students were already suiting up. "Hey, Kurt!" John jogged over, already suited up. "Bout time, man. I've been dyin' to spar with you." Kurt grinned. "I zhink you vill regret zhat vish, mein freund."

* * *

Kurt flexed, eyeing John, who was bending his fencing sword. Around them, other kids were fooling around or fighting clutzily. John smirked behind his mask at Kurt, who smirked back.

He suddenly sprang forwards, flourishing his sword. _"En Garde, _mein freund!!" Kurt cried, leaping into a ferocious attack, sweeping his foil around and dancing around John's attacks.

John was obviously caught off guard, and barely managed to get his sword up in time to block the furious barrage of attacks. Kurt unleashed a destructive hail upon him, but John was good enough to block his attacks and even slip a few of his own in there. But it was like trying to touch a supermagnet with an iron rod, it was almost like the blade didn't want to touch Kurt.

Kurt's ferocious smile grew, and he pushed John back. His mind went into autopilot. Stab, block, riposte, lunge, fleche, parry, feint. John was quickly losing ground beneath Kurt's barely dodgeable attacks.

Then John flicked his blade upwards. Kurt immediately stepped in and wrenched the blade upwards, unprepared for John's hand, slamming the hilt guard of the sword into Kurt's shoulder, jerking him back, as if John had punched him with the sword's hilt.

He took a step backwards, disengaging, surprised by the technique John had used. It was more brutish than Fencing usually was, but still effective. John swept the point of his blade down, bringing the hilt up and turning to his left, his arm raising and his sword barely missing Kurt's thigh.

"A quarter turn, very impressive, John." Kurt said, panting lightly. He was dimly aware of a small crowd around them. He and John circled each other, blades pointed up like lightning rods. "I am curious though, vhere did you learn zhat guard- checking move?" He kept moving, warily staying out of reach of John's blade.

The other grinned. "Kendo." Kurt nodded. No wonder the move had seemed so brutish, it was made for a more brutish sport.

"Zhen I vonder vhere you learned to fence?" John shrugged a bit, making his equipment rustle. "I didn't. It's all kendo skills." He grinned.

"Zhat vould explain it. Unfortunately, it von't help you any longer." Kurt sprang forwards, sweeping John's sword aside with an inverted parry, using the part of the hilt not covered by his hand to knock it aside. He held his breath as he did, for it was an expanse of less than an inch, and if he misjudged and John's blade touched his hand he would be done.

He spun inwards, curling into his unfurled arm, then extending the blade, whipping it in a horizontal arc that snapped into John's wrist. John's breath caught in his throat as the hard strike knocked the blade from his hand. It clattered on the floor, and then the tip of Kurt's foil was at his throat. John raised his hands in defeat. "Ok, ok. Ya got me."

Kurt chuckled, lowering his foil. "Game."

John sighed, pulling off his headwear and shaking Kurt's hand. While they were up close to each other, Kurt whispered into his ear. "You're lucky I couldn't use mein tail… I can vield a sword with zhat, too." John paled under his inducer, and Kurt chuckled a bit. "Told you you vould regret it."

* * *

"Easy, easy, Donald! WATCH WHAT YOU'RE DOING!!" Roared a figure cloaked in darkness. "Shaw. Seriously. Shut up." A small snicker from Donald Pierce as he- more gently than before- lifted an arm that was three times his size into place on the chassis of the giant… thing. Thingy. Thing thingy thing thing thing. Thing was a funny word. Donald dropped the giant arm, and it slammed to the floor with a loud 'BOOM!'. In the shadows behind him there was an angry sigh. "You bumbling fool." He growled. Donald frowned.

He had once been a regular, if slightly mentally unhealthy, teenager. Thanks to Shaw's secret Hellfire Club and it's technological advances, he became something much more. At the cost of his freedom.

He absentmindedly rubbed the spot behind his ear where the control chip would be stored, on one of his normal bodies. But this one was different, special. He had… persuaded… the engineers to make him a body without the control chip. So as far as Shaw knew, he still had complete control. But he didn't know. And Donald intended to keep it that way.

"SOR-REE, Shaw, jeez. These things are made to fall out of the sky, after all. What about Fitzroy, wouldn't you rather bust his balls?"

Shaw sighed exasperatedly. "Fitzroy is indisposed, you idiot."

Donald snickered. "Busy puking, you mean. That's one unfortunate side effect to that teleporting device you gave him." He tutted as he lifted the arm into place. The magnetic bolts finally pulled together with a satisfying 'tchak!'.

"Wouldn't it be better just to kill him? We are trying to eliminate every mutant, not produce more of them."

Shaw narrowed his eyes. "Oh, sorry, have I been sticking my nose in where it doesn't belong again?" Donald taunted. "Yes, Shaw, I know what that device does to the user. You just want a mutant to use as an example."

Shaw turned, clasping his hands behind his back. His square spectacles glinted in the dark, making his eyes look larger than they were. "You know more than you aught to… and you'll not find out any more if you want to stay alive."

Donald smirked, mock saluting. "Yessir, sirety sir-sir sir." He leapt from the beams he had been standing to the ground almost 30 feet away, the ground cracking slightly under him. "I think I need a nice oil bath…"

* * *

John was sitting boredly on the medlab bed, feet kicked up and examining his nails. "So… why did you call me here, Mr. McCoy?"

Beast looked up with a slight smile. "I've got some wonderful news for you, Johnathan. I may have discovered a way to surgically replicate the cells and tissue structure that will recreate the-"

John waved his hands, cutting off his teacher. "Wait wait wait. The what… will… what? Biology isn't my strong suit, doc."

Beast sighed. "I may have found a way to give you vision in your right eye again." John's eye widened.

"You what? I thought the sentinoid had caused irreparable damage?" He sat forward, blinking.

Beast nodded. "That WAS true. But I may have found a concoction that- if it works- will heal your eye." John opened and closed his mouth, seeming dumbstruck.

"I um uh what?" He said faintly, feeling rather brain dead. Beast chuckled at his response. "You are aware of Logan's healing abilities." John nodded mutely. "And you are aware that Warren's blood has healing abilities, right?"

John nodded. "So, I have devised a concoction that combines the regenerative elements of the enzymes in their blood and cell tissue that, if applied properly, would heal your eye to precisely the way it was." John lifted a hand to his head.

"Would… it work for my entire head?" He said faintly.

Beast shook his head sadly. "Unfortunately I can only make enough with the materials we have for a single dose- only enough to heal your eye." John shook his head as if to clear it. "We could wait for a while if you want…" Beast started, trailing off as John stood. "Now. Let's do it now." He said.

* * *

The entire institute had gathered to had to get the Professor, and Jean, to assist him in the operation. Word had spread fast after that. The second John had gone under there was a full assortment of X-Men to watch. "Hank, are you sure this will work?" The professor inquired as he pulled his surgical mask up, Jean following suit, gloves on.

"You do recognize the risks of using more Power-8 on him, even such a small dose." Hank nodded, smiling slightly.

"Of course I do, professor. But John's cells express a surprisingly strong resistance to the warping effects of the drink."

Jean blinked a bit, quirking a brow. "Power-8? As in, the drink that caused Evan's powers to grow out of hand?" She said nervously. "You've used it on him before?!"

The professor put a hand on Jeans arm as Hank moved around busily to set up the equipment. "To save his life, yes. Sometimes, drastic measures must be taken. Please, don't mention this to the others."

Jean nodded, frowning under her mask, thinking that it was lucky the room was sound-proof. Hank bustled back over to them, with a syringe full of a translucent-brown colored liquid. Jean made a face. "That looks nasty."

Beast chuckled, pulling down his own mask. "I know, but it will help him." Jean looked down at her sleeping comrade- even if it was a drug-induced sleep- and couldn't help but wonder if this was the right way to go. Everyone at the institute loved John, whether as a brother, or more, and if this went wrong it would be a huge blow. Even Morph, recognizing the seriousness of the situation, was silent outside the sterile room.

Laura was pressed to the glass, worry glimmering in her eyes. Hank picked up a laser cutter, and slowly began to cut away the metal plating on John's forehead, over his eyebrow, just below his hairline. His skin had mostly healed in this area- but it still held an almost scorched quality to it.

"Let's do this right, now." Hank murmured, holding his scalpel over the scarred skin that covered his eye. "Jean, hold the syringe ready." Jean nodded.

The professor put the removed section of the plate gently aside, then put his fingers together and watched Hank make a delicate incision. Jean watched as Beast began to cut away at the ruined skin, and her face reflected more and more discomfort. She'd assisted the professor on surgeries before, but there hadn't been anything like this, this severe, or gross. She looked away as Hank removed the damaged tissue.

The professor put a hand on her arm. "I understand if this is too much for you." His voice, softly muted by the mask, reached her ears.

Jean shook her head. "I'm here to h-help." She said, her voice not as firm as she would like. "Jean, the syringe." She hastily handed the needle to Hank, who slid the tip into John's forehead, just inside his eye socket. "Ok… and… done. Get me some bandages, stat." Blood that hadn't flown since the incident began to pool around the wound, and Jean hurriedly handed Beast a roll of bandages, then hurried from the operating room to worship a toilet.

* * *

Hank ambled into the Medlab to check on his patient, who was kept in a controlled state of catatonic slumber to reduce chances of halting the regenerative process occuring in his head. He peeled back the bandages, happily smiling as he saw that the healing had almost completely regenerated John's eye, save a few patches on his forehead that hadn't completely sealed up yet. He tested John's eyelids, nodding in a satisfied manor as he recorded that they were fully functional. He blinked, examining his eye again, seeing something on the eyeball itself. "Oh dear."

* * *

Hank wheeled the professor up to the bedside. "Take a look at this, professor." He opened John's eye, and when his iris and pupil slid into view, the professor saw what had worried the blue man. "Oh dear." He murmured. "Precisely." Beast said. "It would appear that the mutagenic properties of the power-8 were not so nullified as I had hoped."

The professor frowned. "Perhaps it has something to do with the… oddly mechanical nature of his powers?" Beast shrugged. "That seems perfectly reasonable to me." John's eye, while retaining the iridescent qualities it had originally, there were solid black lines now, on his iris, much like those of a rifle scope, and his whites were dotted with extremely faint microchip-like symbols like those that had appeared on his body when they had first used the Power-8 to keep him alive. "Have you any idea what it might do?" Hank shook his head. "It may be anything from an evolution of his powers to a purely visual change."

Professor Xavier sighed. "Well, we won't know until he wakes up." He murmured wearily. Hank put a large hand on his shoulder. "Go get some rest, I'll let you know when he wakes up." The professor nodded. "I think… I will do that." He wheeled out of the room, to await John's re-awakening.

* * *

Blurry lights. A strange humming sound. Someone holding his hand, rubbing the back. He blinked, opening his eyes momentarily to the familiar infirmary lights, then squinting at their harshness. "Errhg." He covered his eyes with his free hand. Wait- his eyes. Plural. He blinked, fully for the first time in a long time. He blinked again, and again, and again, looking at Laura, sitting by his bedside, holding his hand and smiling widely. He grinned at her. "Holy crap, I can see!" He laughed, sitting upright, ignoring how the room spun.

Laura grinned. "That's great- eep!" She giggled as he pulled her into a warm embrace, and he hugged her to him. "Hah!" He cried, releasing her and hopping out of bed in his gown. Laura's face turned a bit red, and her giggles grew louder as he stumbled towards the door. She caught his attention, and turned to face her. "What?" She pointed at his gown. "Maybe you should put some pants on first…"

* * *

Kurt laughed, clapping as John walked into the kitchen. "Hooray! Zhe shellhead vakes!" He laughed.

Morph gave a wolf whistle (Literally, his head turned into a cartoon wolf's head) and slapped John's shoulder.

"Well, look at ol' bright eyes here! Good as new, I see." He tapped the rest of the plate before John laughed and slapped his hand away.

"Well, almost." Morph said with his face splitting grin.

Kurt gave John one of his own trademark megawatt smiles, clasping his hand. "Vell, your eye looks good as new, as Morph said." John nodded. He had been noticing something lately, though. His right eye picked up more- whether it was the faintest prediction of what someone was about to do, or being able to read people's emotions easier. Hank had explained that this was a result of the Power-8. John didn't like it. It reminded him of one of Jamie's Anime series he liked so much- Naruto, or some japanese name to that effect. One of the characters- some name he wasn't even about to try to pronounce- had a similar ability. It unnerved John.

He shook off his thoughts, and grinned at Rogue, who had slapped his shoulder. He raised an eyebrow. "What's up?" Rogue smirked. "Haven't y'all heard? Logan wants tah have a 'surprahse danger room session' for ol' shellhead here, to celebrate his eye." Morph stuck his tongue out at her. "Spoilsport." She stuck her tongue out right back at him. "Bite meh." She turned with a slight smirk and walked out of the room. Kurt shook his head. "Oh vell… might as vell go zhen, ja?"

* * *

They stood in the danger room and merely looked around.

"Holy crap. Upgrade." Scott breathed, looking around the Danger Room Sewer Tunnel. Aside from the square of metal at their feet the Danger Room had a holographic image set over it so realistic that Kurt was pulling 'grass' out of the ground.

"Vondebar." He said. "Tvice as good as vhen ve vere at ze mansion. Forge, I suppose."

John raised an eyebrow and gave the 'forest' in front of them a skeptical look. "Can't you guys see it?" He frowned a bit. The image was grainy, and semi- see through. "See what, John?" Jean asked, squinting into the forest. John blinked. "The image is all grainy and nasty." Scott squinted at the forest as well. "No it's not, John… Maybe your eye isn't completely healed." Laura gave John a knowing look. "Well… The Professor did say there was a possibility his mutation had flared up when his eye healed." John sighed exasperatedly. "This is ridiculous. Forget I said anything, let's just start."

Logan's gruff voice issued from the control room. "Gladly, kid." The ground rumbled, and a dark shape flared to life. John saw through the 'darkness'- a sentinel, tromping towards them. He narrowed his eyes.

"Guys, get ready! Sentinel, on approach." He hissed. They didn't stop to question how he knew- they scattered to cover, training taking over. The Sentinel lumbered into the clearing- and the session turned off. John frowned, looking to the 'control room', a viewing station overlooking the drainage area. "X-Men, get ready to ship out." Said a worried sounding professor X. "The Brotherhood have been located."

* * *

(A/N: Ooh, nasty cliffhanger! Well folks, it looks like another battle with the brotherhood is on the way… Will the X-Men FINALLY be able to whip them?)


	13. Chapter 13: Divided

(A/N: Ok folks, Chapter Thirteen is here. But, the Brotherhood has made a move. What will become of our heroes and heroines? Will the X-Men finally beat a Brotherhood, even if it's bolstered by a few… extra forces?)

There was a trend beginning to develop. A car whistled by Scott's ear, bouncing across the pavement with a low thump on each landing. An angry bull roar sounded as the Blob thundered by them. Kitty yelped and leapt out of the way. Juggernaut thundered by him towards Jean and Rogue, who were trying to stop Mastermind.

Kurt sprang to his feet and raced towards his mother, who had joined them for this fight. Scott rolled to one side as a whiplike tongue flashed by him. He rolled to his feet and ducked under a spray of flame, which turned behind him and formed into a dragon, trying to smash into Scott. He was tackled out of the way by Logan, and as they both rolled to their feet.

Logan sighed exasperatedly. "Stay on yer toes, or one of 'em's gonna-" His lecture was interrupted as a baseball bat, covered with some strange pink energy, collided with his chin. The bat made an odd sound and Logan was sent sailing backwards, slamming into a car and caving it inward. Scott's jaw dropped and he leapt backwards to avoid a blow from the bat.

A slight chuckle sounded as the man wielding the bat slung it over his shoulder. "Good try, _idiota,_ but it'll take a lot more to get away from Unus the Untouchable!" He said haughtily in an italian accent. A flicker appeared in the air around him, and then a pink orb, spinning at a crazy speed, appeared around him, slamming into Scott and sending him flying backwards. Scott landed hard on his back. _Unus the Untouchable? That's new._ Scott growled, pulling himself to his feet. "You're about to be 'Unus the Faceless' in a sec!"

He fired an optic blast. It slammed into the forcefield and fragmented, into five or six separate beams that curved harmlessly around the orb and dissipated behind the man. "What the…" He fired another optic blast, that slammed into the shield and bounced back at him. Scott's eyes widened. "Oh, shi-" He was cut off as he was hit by his own optic blast.

He was sent skidding back, and he let his head fall against the pavement in shock. Then he rolled to his feet, looking at the man surprisedly. "Holy shit…" He mumbled.

John was trying to fight off Blob and Juggernaut, but it looked like he was fighting a losing battle. Scott stood up, dusting himself off, and was about to chase after Unus, who was running after Logan, waving his bat, when a stiletto collided with his chin, snapping his head back. "Urgh!"

Mystique grabbed his shirt and hurled him over her shoulder. Scott rolled to his feet. "I've been waiting for this for a long time, Mystique!" He growled, circling warily around her. Mystique smirked. "To get your asses handed to you again? I'd be happy to comply-" Kurt slammed into her. "NO!" And then they were gone in a flash of light and brimstone.

* * *

Kurt slammed his mother into a building "Vhy are you doing zhis!?" He cried, and leapt back as she swung a hard left at him. "Vhy just… up and attack zhe ceety vizhout even stealing anyzhing?" Mystique kept him on his toes, throwing furious blows at him without remorse. "Well, _son,_" Now she spat the word out. "We're here to give our new recruits a… trial run."

Kurt's eyes narrowed. "Yeah? Vell ve've got some new blood too!" Morph slammed into Mystique in the form of a jackhammer. "Ba-zing! Hey, I'd bet that 'rattled' ya!" He snickered. Then Toad slammed into Morph, and Mystique swiped furiously at Kurt with a snarl.

* * *

Something fishy was going on. Kitty phased through Pietro as he tried to punch her, too busy thinking to fight back.

Quicksilver, Blob, Juggernaut, Mastermind, Avalanche, Pyro, Mystique, and Toad they knew (And had never seen them together all at once), but this new guy Unus the Untouchable? Who was he? He was giving Beast, Logan, and X-23 trouble, all at the same time. Logan had a purplish bruise forming under his chin and X-23's shirt was torn slightly.

Pietro slammed into her, spinning her around so fast the world kept spinning when she stopped. She put a hand to her head, her knees wobbling. "Whoah-ho-ho… headrush." She blinked until her dizziness had gone.

Pietro had ran down the street and was turning around for another go at her. She ran in front of a wall and phased. He came racing toward her, the smug smile on his face fading after he realised her plan a second too late.

She giggled as he went straight through her and slammed into the wall with a sick 'THUD' and a crack of concrete. He groaned, then fell backwards. "Y'know, for such a fast guy, you're a little slow." She stepped over him with a giggle and ran off to help her friends.

* * *

Toad hopped towards Morph. "Bring it on, hopper!" He said with a smirk, then turned into a puddle as Toad hopped over him. He reformed and sat on the hood of a car. "Yo, stop movin' ya white-skinned freak!" He cried, turning and leaping at him. Morph sneered at him, and a bunch of spikes erupted from his skin, just barely missing Toad, who was stuck in between them. He gulped nervously.

"Heh heh… hey yo, you know I was just jokin' 'bout ya skin, right pal? Buddy?" Morph raised an eyebrow. "Looks like we've gotten ourselves into a prickly situation haven't we?" Toad gave him a nervous grin, his yellow teeth looking nasty as ever. "Nice to meet ya, by the way. Name's Morph. And I'll assume…" The spikes retracted and Morph turned his hand into a cement block, knocking him out like a light. "That you're Toad?"

* * *

John was fighting for his life against Blob and Juggernaut. Well, not really fighting so much as trying to get away from the two behemoth fighters. Jean and Rogue were still tied up with Mastermind, and Kurt was battling with Mystique and Scott was busy trying to help Beast, Logan, and Laura with Unus, Pyro, and Avalanche.

Blob punched him in the chest, and John was sent tumbling back with a low 'Whoof!'. His adrenaline pumping in his veins had almost completely negated his eye. He was a bit glad about this and half- wishing that it was at his disposal.

Juggernaut roared and slammed a fist into the ground next to him, which he very nearly dodged. He rolled to his feet and threw a fist at Juggernaut, which bounced harmlessly off his stomach.

"Um." John blinked, stymied. His powers were of no use against the Unstoppable Juggernaut and the Immoveable Blob. And without his armored form, he had no way of standing up to their combined strength. Juggernaut swept him aside, and he was caught by the Blob.

Fred chortled dimwittedly. "You're done now, ya grey skinned freak." He threw John upwards. Despite all the velocity he could muster pulling him to the ground, he still flew high enough for Blob to grab him by the shin and swing him into a prius. There was a rumbing 'Crunch!' and John- and the car- slammed into a building. John slumped to the ground, out cold.

* * *

Morph opened a hole in his chest and a deflected beam from Scott passed harmlessly through him."Yeow!!" Kurt was still trying to stop Mystique, Mastermind was on the ground with a serious migraine, and it left the rest of them (Nobody knew where John was) to deal with Unus, Pyro and Avalanche.

Unus laughed at every attack, chortled whenever one of them hurt themselves, and sneered when they stopped to regroup. "I'm not called de Untouchable fer noting, you simpering fools."

Kitty blinked. "Oh, wait. Duh." She ran at the forcefield full speed. "What are you intending to try now, silly girl?" She passed right through the forcefield, and she barrelled into Unus, knocking him to the ground. She punched him hard enough to disrupt his concentration and knock the bat out of his hands.

Then she rolled aside as Logan picked him up by the shirt. Unus glared into his eyes. "Well, at least you keep yer cockiness even in the face of defeat." Logan grumped.

Then he knocked him over the head, making his eyes roll back. Logan dropped him, turning to Kurt and Mystique. But Mystique was gone, leaving Kurt, sitting on the ground holding his head.

"Ech… She bugged out." He mumbled. They turned to face Blob and Juggernaut. Morph frowned for a moment, then grinned. "Don't worry about this one guys… I've got a plan." Scott sighed exasperatedly. "Uh oh… this can't be good." Morph's grin only widened. "You know that old question… what happens when 'unstoppable' meets 'immoveable'?"

* * *

The plan was simple enough. Jean, Rogue, Kitty, Kurt, and Laura would distract Juggernaut, and Scott, Logan, Beast, and Morph would handle Blob. Juggernaut swatted furiously at the most nimble members of the team, while Blob was battered back beneath an onslaught of the most physically powerful.

Then they switched, Blob standing in one place while the others circled him, and Juggernaut plowed through Scott, Logan and Beast as Blob bellowed. Morph turned into a wall, separating the two from view. "Nah nah na-nah nah. You can't smash me!" He taunted, his face appearing on the wall. He stuck a tongue out at Juggernaut, who bellowed, and rushed at Morph.

"Three… two… one… NOW!" Morph shrank and rolled away, while the others scattered. Juggernaut slammed into Blob, and there was an earth-shattering 'KABOOM!' as they both fell back, Blob insensate.

The X-Men stood triumphantly as Juggernaut staggered a bit, fell to one knee. The X-Men cheered, and John came up to them, rubbing his head. Scott high fived Kurt.

Pyro and Avalance were supporting each other and beating a hasty retreat. Toad was hopping away quickly after them, whimpering. "H-hey, wait up yo!" Unus hobbled after them supporting Pietro, who looked like his brain had been disconnected. "Finally!" Scott laughed. John rubbed his head. "Well, it's about time." He grumbled.

Scott looked at him. He remembered how John hadn't been there to help. "And where were you?" He scoffed.

John shook his head. "Out cold over there, why?" Scott looked past him to see that, indeed, there was a crumpled Prius smashed into a wall with a John-sized dent in it. He sat down on the hood of a car, rubbing his head. Scott blinked. "Oh. Sorry." Then two things happened at once. Juggernaut got to his feet with an angry snarl. And then there was a burst of light from a searchbeam, and a sentinel stepped around the corner. Scott paled. Things had just gotten a lot more complicated.

* * *

Kurt looked up with horror at the giant robot as it stepped around the building at the end of the corner. "Anozher sentinel!? I zhought zey vere all scrapped!!!" He cried. The X-Men fled, away from the giant robot and towards the X-Jet landing behind them. "Come on guys let's get the hell out of here!" Scott yelled. Juggernaut was marching towards the robot angrily.

"Who cares Kurt!! Let's just vamoose!" Morph turned his legs into large monster truck tires and sped towards the Jet as Scott hopped into it, followed by Kitty, then Jean, then Laura and Morph, then John, Beast, Rogue, Logan, then finally Kurt. He stopped, looking back as the Juggernaut was slammed into the ground by a giant robotic foot.

The Sentinel now looked almost human (Except for its size), with a humanoid face, purple-red-black iridescent metal covering it's head, upper arms, and thighs. Deep purple metal covered boot-like lower legs and feet, and bulbous, bulky forearms with multiple weapon hatches built in. it's overly bulbous chest and triangular stomach made it seem almost comical, if it werent so terrifying. Then he looked away, and stepped on the X-Jet, and the X-Men hastily fled the scene as news helicopters approached.

* * *

Laura sat next to John, elbows on her knees, hands supporting her head, and listened to Logan, Jean and Scott argue back and forth about the Sentinel.

They were all in the rec room; as soon as they had gotten back the Professor had called them all there to discuss what was to be done. It was almost as if two teams had formed, people who thought that they should have stuck around to fight, and people who thought it was a good thing they left. Scott, Jean, Kitty, Kurt, and Rogue on one side, John, Morph, herself, Logan and Storm on the other. Morph was oddly quiet, which could only mean he was thinking. His preferred demeanor aside, Morph was a technical, biological, and metaphysical genius, to the point of knowing Einstien's theories- all of them- backwards and in german.

Whenever he wasn't pranking people, he was thinking. And when he thought you could feel the stillness around him, as if the very air wanted to keep him like that. He sat in the classic 'the thinker' positioning, eyes down on the floor at his feet, brows furrowed in deep thought.

Scott's frantic waving and anger drew her back to reality. "Logan, you're not understanding me! That thing may have killed us if we had stuck around!"

Jean nodded vigorously. "We can't stand up to something we know so little about." Scott pointed at Logan. "Exactly."

He crossed his arms and stepped closer to Logan. Logan growled, pushing Scott back. "Get outta my face, shades, unless ya want ta find out what it feels like ta breathe through a tube…"

Scott's glasses smoked. "Oh really Logan? I wonder how hard I'd have to hit you to knock you out like a light and-" The professor slammed his fist down on his wheelchair. "ENOUGH!" He roared.

This action from the professor, coupled by the fact that none of them had ever heard him yell before, got everyone's attention, even breaking Morph out of his thoughts. Laura stared at him wide-eyed in surprise. Scott jumped a bit, and Logan turned to him, then sat down with a thump on the couch. The professor looked tired, as if summoning anger had used energy. He sighed, pressing the tips of his fingers together.

"We are not going to defeat the Hellfire Club if you cannot control yourselves and work as a team!" Scott glared at Logan for a moment.

"You know what? You're right, professor." The professor smiled. "Thank you, Scott. Now then-"

Logan cut him off. "This isn't the kind of team I want to work on. I'll see you all later." He stormed out. A brief moment of stunned silence followed. Kitty looked from the Professor, to Storm, to the door where Scott had left. She kissed Kurt gently on the lips, hugging him. Kurt's eyes flashed with sorrow when he realized what was about to happen. Then she sighed. "I'm sorry professor."

She followed him. Kurt gave a light squeak of pain as he watched her leave.

Laura looked around at everyone. Some people looked as though they wanted to follow as well. Laura realised she wanted to follow them. But could she leave John? A few minutes into the silence Logan came back.

"If anyone else wants to join us, we'll be in the garage. We're not waiting more than five minutes, then we're going to San Fransisco." He turned again, and they were left to their musings.

Laura looked from John, to the door, to John, to the professor and back again. Then she stood. John grabbed her hand. "Laura-" She slipped her hand out of his grip. "Sorry, John…" She turned and ran out the door. Tears, unexpected, filled her eyes and she put her hands over her mouth as she heard Jean gasp in surprise behind her.

* * *

(A/N: Awww, snap! Shit is goin' DOWN now! Will the X-team still be able to pull through if they aren't a complete team? Will they pull through when it really matters? And how will Kurt react to his beloved Katzchen following Logan? Stick around, I promise you'll find out!)


	14. Chapter 14: Snapped

(A/N: Well guys, here's the fourteenth chapter. Hard to believe, but there's only six more chapters to go. Well, here's the next one, and I'm sorry for the wait!!)

* * *

Laura looked at the ceiling of the garage. Kitty was packing her overnight bags, and Beast was prepping the car for a cross-country tour. They were taking the X-Van.

Logan popped out from behind the van. "Don't worry, squirt, we're not gonna be gone long. Just enough to show shades the error of his ways."

Laura closed her eyes and tilted her head down. "That's not what I'm concerned about." She murmured.

Logan checked his watch. "We leave in five. Laur, you ready?"

She nodded, not wanting to open her eyes. Suddenly, someone's hand slipped into hers. She looked up into John's face. Her heart skipped a beat.

"Hey." He said, slinging a duffel bag off his shoulder.

She blinked, surprised. "John?"

He chuckled a bit. "Yup. I go where you go, Laur." He said, kissing her gently.

She kissed him back, then hugged him tightly. "Thank you." She got into the van. John slid in next to her, and Kitty on her other side.

Logan sat up front. "Well guys, let's get this show on the road. We'll be back soon. I promise."

* * *

Kurt looked out the window and sighed again. Three days they had been gone. Scott was feeling quite awful. _He should. He drove my katzchen away from me._ Kurt sighed heartbrokenly. His tail hung limp around his feet, twitching a bit every once in a while. Jean had stopped talking to Scott, and Rogue had disappeared into her room for two days. Only Beast, Storm, and the Professor seemed unaffected.

The Professor had called Angel to the institute to help fill the gap left by the three teammates leaving. Kurt put his head in his hands, wishing Kitty were there.

Rogue walked in and sat next to him. "Hey Kurt, what's wrong?" She asked, crossing her arms and legs.

"Keety left vizh Logan." Rogue sighed a bit. She was angry that Logan had left with John and Kitty too. She'd looked up to Logan like a father, and to top it all off Kitty, who was like a sister to her, had up and left. Her anger and irritation suddenly flared, and she decided to take it out on Kurt.

This wasn't an uncommon occurrence. Kurt always listened, was never hurt if she accidentally took it out on him. So, she didn't think anything of doing it now.

"Oh, suck it up, Kurt." Rogue growled. "Ya know they're comin' back so stop sulkin' like this, ya silly elf."

Kurt's response was so unexpected that she was shocked. His tail lashed angrily about behind him, and he… _ignored _her. Kurt _never_ ignored people. It made her more angry. "I'm talkin' ta you, 'Crawler, you damn well bettah answer yer sis when-"

He cut her off, whipping around with an angry snarl. "Oh, so NOW you choose to acknowledge zhe fact zhat I am your brozzer. Vhen you are trying to unload your emotions on me. Let me ask you, Rogue, is zat fair? At ALL?" He snarled.

"I'm hurting, more zan usual, and eet's qvite obvious. So tell me, _sis," _He spat the word out in such a way that made her flinch. "Vhat. Do. You. VANT!?" He yelled, tears nearly breaking through his tightly shut eyes. Shock, hurt, and regret coursed through her, holding her in place. Rare tears welled up in her eyes, and she put her hands over her mouth and ran to her room.

* * *

Kitty looked out the window of the hotel they were staying at in lou of traveling to San Francisco. She sighed, missing Kurt. At least John had come with Laura, they didn't have to be separated. She grumbled a bit, laying back on her bed and looking at the ceiling.

She wondered if Kurt missed her as much as she missed him. Probably. She hated to remember his face as she left, the look of anguish just wouldn't leave her head. Eventually, she sighed, and went downstairs to the lobby to find Logan.

"Like, when are we going back, anyways?" Kitty moaned, plopping down in the chair next to him.

John sighed exasperatedly from across the table. "My 'Magic Eight Ball' senses keep coming up 'No time soon' and yet you keep seeing 'ask again later'."

Laura giggled a bit. Kitty rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "Ha ha, yes very funny. Now SERIOUSLY. When are we going back?"

Logan didn't even look up from his paper. "Every time you ask, kid, I tack on another hour."

Kitty sighed defeatedly. "If only they'd let me retake my driving test…"

A collective shudder ran through the other three.

"Yeeeah… I'm not sure they had enough Navy SEALS to deal with THAT kind of mission." Laura grumbled.

John looked up from his breakfast with a half shocked, half amused look on his face. "Did you just make a joke?"

"Yeah, so?"

John burst out into hysterics, rocking backwards in his chair. Laura smirked a bit, but then whacked him in the face with a rolled-up newspaper. "Oh, quiet down, you're making a scene."

He blinked a bit, and Kitty giggled. "Like, it's like hitting a dog on the nose with yesterday's news! How cute!"

Laura and Kitty giggled, and now it was John's turn to grimace and cross his arms, simmering quietly.

One thing was for sure, it was going to be a long day.

* * *

Donald slammed the door to his cabin and grabbed his head, groaning slightly. "M-my head!" He shrieked, falling against the bedframe. The door hissed open and Shaw's shadowy figure came into view.

"Donald, Donald, Donald. You've been a very naughty boy, haven't you? Trying to break free of our control. Shame on you. Pathetic cyborg."

Donald shuddered, shivered, and shrieked in pain again as Shaw jammed his finger mercilessly down on the button, sending another arc of electricity into his body.

"We invented this for use on mutants, but it would seem it works just as good on cyborgs." Shaw laughed coldly. Donald felt his robotic brain being wiped… his thoughts, his feelings, everything that made him Donald, wiped.

"N-no…" He snarled, reactionary circuits kicking in. "You won't turn me into one of those things!" He slowly struggled to his feet, and Shaw jammed on the button repeatedly.

"This just in, Shaw. You can't control me anymore." He swiped the tazer out of his hands. Shaw started to back away. "Now, Donald…"

"Too late, Shaw." He hissed. Something in his mind had been re-connected. He felt smarter, more focused. And REALLY pissed. "I would kill you here, but I think I'll let the X-Men do that." He smirked.

Shaw narrowed his eyes. "And how do you suppose you'll get a hold of them?"

Donald grinned widely. But not the silly, insane grin of the old Donald. It was the harsh, malicious grin one would expect from someone exceptionally more sinister.

"By ripping this place in half and sending them a smoke signal they'll never forget."

(A/N: Sorry for the wait on this one guys. But at long last, chapter 14 is up, if a bit short. For those of you who are curious, Shaw's shock treatment re-activated the 'logic' centre of Donald's brain, which Shaw had turned off to keep Donald complacent. Well, I'll see you in the next chapter! Outta the friggin fryin' pan…)


	15. Chapter 15: Finale, Part 1

(A/N: I know it has been really late coming but I was ridiculously sick, I'm under A LOT of stress, and I am now straining to get this done. Read, Review, Enjoy!)

All over the city the shockwave could be felt. The sound could be heard. And the smoke could be seen. Some worried it was a repeat of September Eleventh. Some, who were close by, saw the fire, and could do nothing but stare, as the mansion at the end of Greymalkin Lane, New York City, exploded in a fireball straight out of hell.

It was completely unexpected, unprovoked, and unprecedented. Soon enough the wail of sirens could be heard as every single emergency vehicle raced towards the flaming crater left in the wake of the mansion.

None of the 315 rescue vehicles dispatched to the scene would ever reach the site of the explosion. None of the thousands of people who directly witnessed the blast would even remember it happened. Nor would any of them remember the solid layer of steel that lay almost completely unscathed, buried at the bottom of the crater underneath the wreckage of the mansion above.

The media would release a statement- obviously controlled- saying that the explosion was an accident, nobody had been harmed, and rescue teams had been dispatched to clean up the wreckage. Nothing to worry about.

Or, so thought the denizens of New York, except for a small group of powerful teenagers and adults.

* * *

"Yeah Chuck, we felt it." Logan grumped into the communicator. "We're already headed for the blast site."

"What happened to going to San Francisco?" An irritated young voice broke over the Comm. Scott hadn't quite calmed down yet, it would seem.

"Logan, stay a safe distance away. I sense the work of another telepath." Crackled an older, wiser voice over the comm.

"Gotcha, this is Wolverine, over and out." Logan turned the communicator off and turned to look at Kitty, Laura, and John. Beast, seated in the front seat, hummed lightly, as if nothing were wrong in the world.

"Hear that kids? We have the possibility of another telepath thrown inta this mess." Logan stated gruffly. Kitty nodded attentively, while Laura's face was set in a grim mask from her place next to John. John himself looked anxious but ready for anything, fiddling with a coin he'd found in the armrest.

"Logan, what happened?" He said. "That was the Hellfire Club's mansion, wasn't it?"

Logan nodded. "Sure was shellhead, and that's why we're gonna roll on down and check it out before the others arrive."

Kitty brightened up noticeably at the mention of 'others'- it meant she'd be able to see Kurt. She smiled lightly, looking happier than she had in days. John sighed, a light frown present on his features as he sat in silent thought.

Dealing with the Hellfire Club meant dealing with Donald Peirce. Dealing with Donald Peirce meant nothing would be exactly as it seemed. Dealing with surprises was not his forté, no matter how he tried to make it seem as such.

"And so, we're going in there with… what, just the five of us for now?" He grimaced. "If that is enough of us, then they are getting soft."

Laura sighed, threading her fingers into his. "John, for the time being it will have to be enough. If we don't make it enough the others will be dropping in blind."

John winced; he knew from experience how much of a bad idea that could be. He stared at the column of smoke rising silently above the city, and a sudden, sick feeling came to his stomach. No way in hell this was going to be easy. And the feeling he was getting made it seem like there was no way in hell all of them were getting out alive.

* * *

"Kurt, hurry the hell up! I don't want us late to the party because you took extra time to comb your fur!" Scott hammered on the door, rushing past it on his way to the X-Jet.

Morph made a face, and sprouted a visor similar to Cyclops' only much bigger and goofier looking. "Kurt, hurry up, meh meh meh, blah blah blah, PLBBBBBT." Morph blew a raspberry at the door, closing an empty drawer in his cabinet. "Jeez does that guy EVER loosen up?" Morph grumped.

Kurt laughed a bit. "You should know by now mein freund, it is not humanly possible for Scott to 'loosen up'." Kurt adjusted his gloves. "Okay. Now I am ready to go."

"Good. I was gettin' kinda sick of waiting myself." He gave Kurt a wink, and sprouted civil war clothes. "Chaaaaaaaaaarge!" He cried, storming out of the room.

Kurt sniggered quietly. Morph was very good at keeping everyone's spirits up. Part of him was jealous the shapeshifter was stealing his job, part of him was happy for the help.

He BAMF'd into the jet hangar, running up to the others. Rogue, Storm, Cyclops, Jean, Iceman, and himself. The team seemed so much smaller than usual, yet at the same time, so much bigger than he was used to. Morph jogged up stuffing a sandwich into his mouth.

"Hokay letf gop." He said, words garbled by the sandwich in his mouth. They hurried onto the jet and soon were airborn. Kurt looked out the window next to his seat at the pillar of smoke they were headed towards- a column of flames and death that, in reality, he wanted to be nowhere near. Kurt subconsciously wrapped a slim, three-fingered hand around his wrist. He always did that when he was thinking about his past- the many times he'd very nearly died from burns caused by fires of that very nature.

The plane spiraled down towards their friends, who stood on a rooftop overlooking the scene from across the street. "Bout time you guys showed up!" John shouted, waving his arms with a grin on his face. Kurt bamf'd out of the plane before it touched down and ran to Kitty, planning to tackle-hug her- but she beat him to it. She tackled him back laughing, wrapping her arms around him and cuddling into his chest.

"I've missed you, Katzchen." Kurt murmured into her ear.

"I've missed you too, fuzzy." She replied, kissing him gently.

Rogue cleared her throat. "Um, not t' bother y'all, but we do kahnda have a job t' do here." Kurt chuckled a bit sheepishly, clearing his throat.

"Ah yes. Oh, and Rogue?" He put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm… sorry about earlier. No hard feelings?"

She eyed him as if she were contemplating hitting him, and he wouldn't blame her. "Yeah, no hard feelin's, Kurt. Ah'm just happy t' have a brother who knows how t' apologize." She looked at her feet and grumbled "And… maybe it's sumfn ishd ln."

Kurt gave a grin. "Vhas vas dat, Rogue? I didn't qvite hear you."

"It's somethin' Ah should learn." She snapped. "Happy now?" She gave him a small smirk and squeezed his hand lightly.

"More than you know." He smiled, putting an arm around Kitty as she walked up next to him to survey the damage.

Laura leaned against the chimney of the building they stood on as she looked over the damage. John was not far away, a worried grimace on his face.

"What could level a house that big?" He muttered to himself, narrowing his eyes and trying to see through the crater. John's eyesight was not the best, so Kurt joined him in examining the crater.

"John." He murmured, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Do you see vhat I see?"

"No, I can barely see anything through all the smoke." He grumbled, squinting against the sun and black smoke.

Laura followed Kurt's gaze and growled slightly. "That can not be good news." She grumbled, leaning slightly over the parapet. "Scott, you'd better get over here…"

* * *

Scott looked down at the metal surface covering what was undoubtably more Hellfire activity. Since Kurt and Laura had spotted the metallic sheen of the bulkhead under all the smoke and dirt, they'd made a point of being the first and only response team on the scene.

"Any luck getting that thing open?" He called to Logan, Beast, Jean, and Kurt. The four of them were trying to open the great metal seal in the center of the blast site.

"Sorry shades, we're not makin' any- nngh!- headway over here." Logan tried to jam one of his claws into the seal- it was too tight. He growled a bit.

"Perhaps the answer lies in the environment… a lost encoder or door mechanism pertaining to our preposterous predicament." Beast intoned, loping around, sampling pieces of scrapped machinery.

Kurt looked at him with a blank look. "…Vhas…?" He said, giving a bemused frown and scratching his head.

Logan shrugged, shaking his head and raising his hands. "I don' know, elf, but I figure it's just better not t' even ask."

John chuckled a bit, shaking his head, but whatever he said to the two of them was lost to Scott- he'd spotted a small chunk of shiny metal sticking up out of the rubble. "Hey guys, over here! I may have found something." He called, waving them over.

* * *

The giant metal door ground open with a horrible grinding noise. John looked down into the depths. "What is it with these guys and giant holes in the ground? It's like… friggin' Gears of War." He muttered, crossing his arms aggravatedly.

Laura opened her mouth to say something, then closed her eyes and shook her head. "I'm not even gonna ask."

Kurt raised an eyebrow, crawling down into the hole and clinging to the ceiling of the facility below. A few seconds later he bamfed back up to them. "Zhe chasm is tre deep down zhere. I zhink it is a mining facility- it vould explain vhere zhe Hellfire Club got all of zhere vresources."

"And how they've managed to stay unnoticed for so long- any hole going down that deep is bound to be connected to the sewer systems somehow." Scott muttered, rubbing his chin.

"Lemme see if I can try to get a reading on how many people are down there." Jean said, starting to put her hands to her temples. Logan grabbed her arm.

"Not so fast, kiddo. Remember, Chuck senses foul play here. Any telepathic searchin' could give 'em a clue to our presence." Logan gave her a warning look and the redheaded telepath took her hands away from her temples with a nod.

John sighed explosively. "Then let's just get in there and end this, already!"

The others looked at each other. A series of nods. They all prepped their gear, checked each other's gear, and mentally prepped themselves.

"Remember X-Men." Scott said, looking down into the hole. "This ends here. We can't let them continue on with this any longer. Get ready, guys- it's all or nothing from here on out."

And with that they descended into the dark.

(A/N: FINALLY done! Enjoy! Story's almost over. Bummer, right?)


	16. Chapter 16: Finale, Part 2

(A/N: Okay, here's the next chapter of X-Men: Evolution, Hellfire! After this it's… well, I guess I can tell you. It's the third installation to the trilogy: X-Men: Evolution… er… Okay I don't have a name yet. I SMELL A POLL!)

"Shh."

"No seriously, I think I heard something."

"No seriously, SHH."

"But what if there's-"

"SHHHHH!"

Morph huffed and crossed his arms, his equivalent of an eye-rolling. "I'm just sayin' man, what if there's like… freaky robots down here?"

Scott tapped his fingers on the flashlight he held annoyedly. "Morph. Guess what?"

"What?"

"SHHH."

"… That was no fair." Morph muttered. "What are we lookin' for down here, anyways?"

"Well, hopefully we'll find something incriminating that we can use to put the Hellfire Club under. That and you can't honestly believe there will be freaky robots."

Scott and Morph were making their way through the labyrinthine tunnels they'd entered beneath the wreckage of the Hellfire mansion.

Morph blinked, making a face. "Or! I have a better idea. We're literally _inside_ their base! We could stop them _right now _and nobody would be the wiser!"

They'd split into individual teams of two to search what Beast told them seemed like a vast underground complex on par with their own mansion. Most of the teams were fairly standard- Kurt and Kitty, John and Laura, Rogue and Wolverine, Storm and Jean, people who worked well together.

But of course, he'd gotten stuck with Morph. And Morph's carefree attitude didn't mesh well with his all-buisness attitude.

"Just shush and focus on the mission please. Okay?" Scott grumbled. Morph sighed and nodded, and they sunk deeper into the depths of the facility.

They hadn't gone thirty feet when they stumbled upon a laboratory. And, contained in tubes all around them, were robotic duplicates.

Robotic duplicates of the X-Men.

"Hey Scott." Morph said, his tone grim yet smug, elbowing his arm lightly. "Freaky robots."

* * *

"Team, be adv*schhhh*d that we've fou*zzz* some odd ro*krchhhht*ms up here."

Kurt grimaced and raised an eyebrow. "Vhas?" He prodded his communicator, held it up. "I zhink zis zhing is broken. Katzchen, you are zhe tech vhiz, mind taking a look?"

Kitty eased the communicator (Which was an old walkie-talkie they'd bought with their limited money supplies) out of his hands and examined it, popping the battery guard open. "Here's the problem, fuzzy. Lookit, you crossed a wire when you shook it earlier."

"Vell I don't even know." Kurt shrugged, and Kitty giggled, kissing him lightly on the cheek.

"Hey Scott, it's Kitty, could you repeat that for me, please?"

The communicator stayed dead.

Kitty frowned, and examined it annoyedly. "C'mon."

"Scott, do you read me?"

The communicator stayed silent, Scott's voice not issuing forth.

Kitty and Kurt exchanged a worried glance. "Hey, this is Shadowcat broadcasting to anyone who can hear us. Cyclops and Morph have gone AWOL, Nightcrawler and I are moving to their last known position to see if we can find what's going on. Backup would be welcome."

"We read ya, Shadowcat. This is John and X-23 moving to assist."

"John, you should really get a proper codename."

"Yeah well, Strafe sorta petered out and I can't be assed to come up with another one."

"What 'bout 'Superklutz'?" Rogue's voice came through. Bobby snickered.

"John isn't very klutzy, though." Beast pointed out.

"Guys aren't we getting a bit distracted?" Kitty said annoyedly into the communicator. Shockingly, there was silence.

"Guys, this is John and X-23. We're like ten feet away from where Scott and Morph dissappeared. We're- Holy shit…" John's disbelieving voice breathed through the comms.

"This is John to any and all receiving X-Men. Get to our location, pronto. We have… a major problem."

* * *

By the time Kitty and Kurt reached them, John and Laura had already set up a small camp-like area. Kitty gasped as she saw what John and Laura had found- A large room full of shattered glass tubes big enough to contain a full grown man with room to spare.

The floor was covered with broken glass and a green, viscous liquid. John had sampled the stuff with his fingers and told Laura that it had the consistency of runny mucus, which she'd responded to by making a disgusted face.

But more troubling to them, was that they'd found Scott and Morph both unconscious on the floor. Scott was up against a wall, as if he'd been hurled backwards by something.

Morph was twisted and pulled like silly putty all over the place- John and Laura had done their best to gather him back together, and they were now waiting anxiously for them to wake up.

"What happened here!" Kurt said, skidding to a halt next to John. It was a good thing he was wearing gloves and boots, otherwise his hands and feet would probably be pretty badly cut up.

"That," John started, looking around once more, curious about the very same thing, "Is an excellent question, Ku- uh, Nightcrawler."

Laura elbowed him in the side and pointed at a control console on the far side of the room. John blinked. It was dented and smashed as if Scott had shot his eyebeams at it- but Scott was unconscious, so they couldn't be sure if it was him.

Rogue and Logan skidded into the room, and Logan promptly slipped and fell. Rogue looked around with surprise etched on her features.

"What happened here!" She exclaimed, putting her hands to her hips and looking at Kurt, Kitty, John, Laura, and the two unconscious X-Men.

"John, what did y'all do?"

"Why was it me? Why is it always me?"

"When is it ever not you?" Rogue pointed out.

At this moment Logan got to his feet, growling expletives and wiping goo off of himself. He looked up and narrowed his eyes, then took several deep sniffs in. "Somethin' don't smell right." He growled, looking over at John and Laura.

Of course not, John thought, the floor was covered in lime-scented mucus-goo. Everything smelled like citrus.

Before he could voice this thought, however, Scott and Morph barrelled into the room from the opposite direction. "Guys, get outta there! They're fakes!" Scott shouted to them.

John's mind felt as if it might break- and then so did his skull when 'Scott' unleashed a full force eyebeam from below him, catching him in the jaw and propelling him into the air. His head thunked into the ceiling and he fell downwards, blackness flickering at the edge of his vision.

As he hit the floor with a 'Thunk!' he was aware of 'Morph' slinging Laura into Kurt and Kitty, knocking them both to the floor.

"Battlestations, battlestations!" Morph cried, leaping towards his doppleganger. He grew an axe blade from one of his hands. "Time to go medieval on these brigands!"

Scott let loose an eyebeam that caught his fake in the chest, sending it rocketing backwards into the wall, keeping it pinned between his beam and the wall. It's uniform began to disintegrate, and then the layer of skin that covered a metallic arm went with it.

"Robots!" Scott shouted as Bobby and Storm found their way into the room, followed shortly by Jean and Gambit.

"Damn, who started de party wit'out me?" Gambit shouted, taking a quick stock of the situation. Before he could assist Morph (Who had turned into a robot and was pummeling his fake, unable to change to the extent the real Morph could) or Scott, there was a loud wrenching sound. Moments later, a control panel slammed into the cajun, eliciting a loud 'HUNFF!' as he skidded backwards to where John was. John rubbed his head, trying to keep conscious. He made his way to his feet and saw that they weren't alone- more X-Bots had entered the room. A robo-Beast was tearing another control panel out of the wall while robo-Iceman tried to freeze Rogue in place and robo-Logan tackled real-Logan to the ground.

"This is madness! MADNESS!" Morph cried, waving his arms about as his fake got up.

"Madness? THIS! IS! SPARTA!" The fake roared, kicking Morph in the chest and sending him staggering backwards. Morph and robo-Morph tackled each other, and wrestled each other into a side- hallway, disappearing from sight.

More fakes burst into the room, breaking up the X-Men, pulling them into their own little hallway.

And suddenly John was alone with himself.

John looked warily, still a little dazed, at the person standing across from him. Robo-John gave a wicked grin. And armor- Armor John hadn't had at his command for a long time- wrapped around the robot's outer skin.

Robo-John charged, and John turned and ran.

* * *

A fist collided with Laura's jaw and her head rocked backwards. A knee met her stomach and she doubled over with an 'Oomph!' as the robot fake that had attacked her pressed her mercilessly.

She'd have been less comfortable with this situation if not for all her training with HYDRA. She grabbed the robot's arm, then stabbed it's arm at three separate points on it's arm, then kicked it back with a dull 'Whump!'

The robot looked at it's arm, which now sparked and fizzled from the holes she'd left, and looked at her with a flat gaze. It ran at her, then tackled her backwards.

Laura rolled down an elevator shaft, her duplicate snarling at her, trying to bury it's claws in her stomach. She gritted her teeth and dug her claws into the wall, slowing their descent to a stop.

Laura's fake bit her side and Laura growled in pain. She unsheathed her claws on her other hand and buried them knuckle-deep into her fake's forehead. A jolt of electricity raced through her, and she gave an eep of surprise and pain. Robot-Laura's jaw unhinged, it's eyes dimming from brown to black. It's grip on Laura slackened, and suddenly it's body was falling down the elevator shaft.

Laura waited until she head the 'BOOM!' of it's body impacting on the floor of the shaft before she looked up at the opening over her head- almost two hundred feet over her head, to be precise. She gave a sore huff, and began climbing at a painfully slow rate.

* * *

Scott slid under a table as an optic blast from his duplicate tore a chair behind him in half. He was used to fighting _with _his power- not against it. He leapt over a pool table. They were in a rather large lounge-type room that must have been used as recreation at some point in time. An optic blast blew it to splinters, and half an 8-ball whizzed past his head. Scott slammed his fake into a wall with an optic blast.

"That's the best you've got, Scotty-boy?" It taunted, grimacing. "I thought you could do better than that."

Scott creased his brows. "So you can talk. I guess that means you can think, too. How about rethinking this suicide mission of yours?"

"Suicide mission, eh? Well, I can do more than talk and think. As for a name, you can call me Corsair!" Scott dodged another optic blast and fired one of his own- which Corsair promptly dodged, picking up a chair and throwing it at him.

Scott blasted it out of the air but got hit in the chest by another beam, slamming him into a bar, which cracked under the impact. Scott groaned, arching his back against the bar. His whole body ached, both from their current battle and their earlier conflict.

Corsair advanced at a leisurely pace, chuckling a bit. "Ah, Scott Scott Scott. When will you learn? Your biggest enemy will never be anybody but… yourself."

Corsair bent and pulled Scott's visor from his face. Scott, who had been playing unconscious, opened both his eyes all the way. There was a flash of light, and the roar of his full-power optic blast blowing a hole in the floors over his head. After five seconds Scott closed his eyes and sat up.

His spine popped uncomfortably, and he shivered. "Ugh." He groped along the floor for his visor and pushed it back onto his face, then looked down at what was left of Corsair's body- his upper half had been stripped of synthetics, leaving an oddly thin skeletal form, sizzling and half-melted.

Scott rubbed his neck and started out of the room when a door opened behind him. He whirled around and dodged a dart as Hellfire troops spilled into the room. Scott made a break for the door, leaping over a table and bouncing his optic beam off the wall, off the floor, and into the lead soldier, slamming him up into the doorframe and onto his fellow soldiers. He sprinted from the room, and as the door shut, he slagged the door controls. He gave a light sigh of tiredness.

"X-Men, can anybody read me? Anybody need help out there?"

He got an overwhelming reply and shut off his communicator. Everyone needed help. There was no way he could help them all.

* * *

Kitty yelped and phased through a pipe her duplicate had swung at her.

"Where ya goin' kitty cat?" The other-Kitty taunted. "Run all you want, you can't escape yourself! Run, Kitty, run from Lady Bloodhound!"

"Like, who comes up with your names! They're horrible!" Kitty cried, running through a door which crashed open behind her. Her copy could duplicate her looks, her voice, and her personality- but it couldn't duplicate her powers.

"I mean, really? Lady Bloodhound? Seriously, it's kinda pathetic-" She stopped midsentence, hoping to catch her duplicate by surprise, and stopped short, letting her duplicate run into and through her. The robot crackled with electricity and gave a shrill metallic scream. It slammed into the wall, then fell onto it's back, twitching. Kitty shivered. Watching herself twitch on the floor like that was unnerving.

"This won-won-won't stop me forrrevvver! I-I'll get you, jus-jus-just you wait!" Bloodhound cried, voice now a metallic approximation of her own.

Kitty ran through the next door and found herself in an operation room- full of Hellfire troops. They were wearing garish purple uniforms, with red 'X'es on the chest and back. Their masks looked creepy, like dolls made to look like cavemen.

They paused in their work and looked at Kitty, seeming surprised. Kitty blinked. "Oh, I'm sorry, I was looking for uh… the little girls' room?" She gave a nervous laugh, then sprinted forwards as they fumbled for their blasters. Kitty ran straight through a big and important-looking control panel that shot up sparks behind her. Lasers exploded into the wall behind her as she vanished.

She came out and slammed into John, who gave a cry of surprise and fell backwards. She yelped. "Ohmygosh John, are you okay?"

John scrambled backwards away from her, eyes wide, nervous, and darting back and forth. "D-don't come any closer!" He brandished one of the troops' blasters at her, but his hand was shaking so bad that she doubted he'd be able to hit her even if he did fire.

"John, It's me, it's Kitty!" She took a step forwards, frowning, hands outstretched.

John fired the blaster, and Kitty ducked- she didn't have time to phase. The laser still singed her hair, however, and she yelped. "Hey man, what the hell! That's my hair!"

"I know it isn't you!" John shouted, pressing his back to the wall. "That's what they all said! But none of them were real! Just their fakes! You're the same!"

The fight was really getting to John. Kitty realized that he was very susceptible to mental manipulation- probably because of his loyalty. "John, relax! It's me, it's Kitty!"

"Liar!" John shouted again, scrambling to his feet. Kitty frowned- she couldn't talk to John when he was like this. "Come any closer and I'll shoot you!" He hissed, and then he turned on his heel and ran down the hallway. Bootsteps sounded behind her and she sprinted through the wall in front of her, searching for her friends.

(I am SO SORRY For the late update but at least it's here, right? Enjoy, guys. I'll try to pick up the pace on the updates.)


End file.
